Rep. Eddie Lambert, R-Prairieville, said he “could not agree” with LSU System President John Lombardi’s “blanket statement” that a proposed 5 percent funding cut would freeze the University’s progress toward achieving the National Flagship Agenda. Lambert, house appropriations education subcommittee chairman, responded to an April 10 letter he received from Lombardi advising against the budget cut. “Such cutbacks will send shock waves through our faculty, staff and students statewide,” Lombardi wrote, citing the System’s loss of more than $36.6 million. In the letter, Lombardi said a preliminary analysis indicating the budget decrease would “dramatically increase pressure” for the University to increase tuition by 12 percent – $270 per student per semester. “I understand some of his points,” Lambert said. “But the question is, how much can we save in administration, not necessarily cutting programs and things like that?” Lambert emphasized the proposed cuts would take place after more thoroughly examining the System’s budget. Since the cut will affect all higher-education systems in the state, Lambert asked all the system heads to examine the effects of 5 percent less funding and report to him by this past Friday. Lambert said he is reviewing those reports. He said he is open to changing the percentage cut after closely examining the budgets. “We want to try to look at things and get a handle on where money is being spent and where to re-direct things,” Lambert said. “The goal of this is to make an efficient budget where the taxpayers of Louisiana get the most out of their money.” Lambert said post-Katrina budget surpluses have channeled more money into the state’s higher-education entities. And if federal funds fall short in upcoming years, he wants to be prepared for the decreases by seeing where money could be used more efficiently. “It’s sound accounting practices and business management,” Lambert said. “Five percent isn’t a whole lot of money when you look at the whole.” Charles Zewe, System vice president for Communications and External Affairs, said the cut would put System funding below regional peers as identified by the Southern Regional Education Board average. The System leveled with the regional average for the first time in 30 years this past year, Zewe said, and cutting the budget back below the average would be detrimental. “If we get hit by a 5 percent cut, we lose all the progress we’ve made,” Zewe said. Zewe said several heads of higher education systems, including Lombardi, met this past Wednesday to discuss their “deep concerns about these cuts.” For the cut to take place, an amendment to House Bill 1 – the state’s 2008-2009 fiscal year budget – would be made in May, when the State Legislature debates the bill.
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]