The first state legislative session of 2025 is now underway at the Capitol as lawmakers consider over 800 new bills.

At the start of the session, Gov. Jeff Landry spoke before both the House and the Senate. He outlined his goals for the year; including lowering auto insurance rates, eliminating DEI initiatives and improving health in the state.

The looming issue in the Capitol is the budget. Departments across the state, including Louisiana State University, are bracing for potential budget cuts after the governor’s tax reform plan failed in the March election.

While the governor proposed a standstill budget for all universities in Louisiana, LSU is still preparing for the possibility of budget cuts. Republican Representative for East Baton Rouge Parish, Dixon McMakin, says that the impacts of potential budget cuts should be minimal for students.

“So right now I think you’ve seen across the board what we’re doing with higher education,” McMakin said. “We have a standstill budget. I don’t think the students at LSU or other campuses are going to feel anything when it comes to that. President Tate put in a hiring freeze, that was on his own, outside of what the governor did as well.”

Along with the hiring freeze, President Tate has also asked that all LSU departments factor a 2% reduction into their 2025-2026 budget plans.