House votes money to medical schools, hospitals at the expense of TOPS

By Jack Richards Manship School News Service

The House voted 75-25 Monday to enhance the funding the state’s flagging medical schools and hospitals at the expense of TOPS scholarships through a supplemental spending bill.
After a slew of amendments, House Bill 69 also adds approximately $15 million to TOPS, which leaves the popular scholarship program at about 70 percent funding as it heads to the Senate where other changes likely will be made.
The funding levels must be agreed to by both chambers prior to midnight Thursday when the second special session must end.
“This is the second draft of the bill,” said House Appropriations Committee chairman and bill author Cameron Henry, R-Metairie. He predicted the Senate will make substantial changes to the legislation before it comes back to the House for concurrence.
Earlier in the day, the House approved approximately $70 million in revenue from Senate Bills 6 and 10, meaning there was more money to add to the bill.
Representatives from across the state fought over which programs most deserved additional funding. The conflict once again returned to which is more important: college scholarships or health care for the working poor.
The scrap culminated in Republican leadership urging Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, as he argued his amendment before the chamber, to return to his seat after a shouting match with Rep. John Bagneris, D-New Orleans, nearly got out of hand.
Ivey’s amendment to put $87 million into TOPS, at the expense of the Department of Health and Hospitals, failed 45-53.
First, the House adopted Henry’s amendments, which funded TOPS at 80 percent while leaving higher education, medical schools, K-12 education, vouchers for the disabled, sheriffs and the judiciary underfunded, though better off than before.
Those amendments passed without opposition, but eight additional amendments sought to tweak the allocations.
The most substantial of those came from Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, and barely passed by a 51-49 vote. Those amendments returned TOPS to 70 percent funding, giving that $32 million to higher education, K-12 education and med schools.
“Giving a student 80 percent of a scholarship to go to a school that’s not funded makes no sense to me,” Leger said.
Leger’s amendments also took $400,000 from the $2 million given to the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to fund Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
An amendment from Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro, cut about $6.5 million from Winn and Allen correctional centers to fund sheriffs who house inmates in their jails. That amendment passed unanimously, despite vocal opposition from Rep. Dorothy Sue Hill, D-Dry Creek.
An amendment from Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, to cut TOPS down to $52 million, 65 percent funding, failed 45-52.
She and other northern Louisiana Democrats argued the $50.5 million appropriated for public-private partner hospitals is not enough money to fund all hospitals in their districts.
Henry countered the administration only asked for $50.5 million and the injection of more money would destabilize contract negotiations.

HOUSE VERSION OF SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL

By Manship School News Service.
TOPS -- $67,887,110.
Public Private Partnership Hospitals -- $50,511,446.
Higher Education -- $55,112,890.
Shreveport and New Orleans Medical Schools -- $35,000,000.
Minimum Foundation Program (K-12 Education) -- $27,688,554.
Non-public Education (Free Lunch Program and Other Services) -- $11,000,000.
Winn and Allen Parish Correctional Facilities -- $2,450,000 .
Department of Children and Family Services -- $7,000,000.
Youth Services -- $4,000,000.
Vouchers -- $3,500,000.
Sheriff Housing of Inmates -- $6,550,000.
Judicial -- $5,000,000.
Special School District (River Oaks and Brentwood) -- $500,000.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center -- $400,000.

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT

Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from Eunice, LA. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Twitter icon
Facebook icon

Follow Us

Subscriber Links