“We want to see graduation as the No. 1 issue in the state, not incarceration”, said Louisiana State University President F. King Alexander.
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Edwards is seeking cuts, short-term fixes and taxes to close a gap ranging from $850 million to $950 million for the budget year that ends June 30.
Still, Henry was willing to propose an actual meaningful cut to a budgetary sacred cow, and in doing so he will bring the wrath of Louisiana’s educational establishment down on his head. If it began on April 1 as proposed, the tax hike would raise an estimated $220 million for this year’s budget and more than $900 million yearly.
Though Edwards said he’s making headway, he acknowledges that doesn’t mean an agreement has been reached on what taxes should be raised – or that tax hike proposals have enough votes for passage yet.
Reps. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, and Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, …
“For every dollar that we are able to cut that we can come to some agreement on, that’s another dollar I don’t have to raise and take from someone’s pocket”, said Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Gray.
“Higher ed and health care can not be cut anymore, because these are two things that are not luxuries, they’re mandatory”, said Michels.
“I remain optimistic that the consequences are so bad that we’re not going to fail”, he said. But a group of Republicans on the Appropriations Committee are instead pushing a $117 million budget slashing plan, as a way to reduce tax increases.
In the cuts package, more than $44 million would be stripped from the state’s local public school districts, and $2.5 million would be removed from the education department’s budget. Another $5 million would come from funding to private schools to help them comply with state regulations. “But it’s the political reality of where we are”.
Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, voted against the bill, saying the cuts went “overboard”.
“Over 50 percent of the cuts in this particular bill are coming from dollars dedicated to educating kids”, said Scott Richard, Executive Director of the LA School Boards Association.
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Thousands of students and administrators from public schools across the state traveled up to Baton Rouge to protest against increased budget cuts and send a message to legislators.
