Gov. John Bel Edwards
Four safety net hospitals in Bogalusa, Lake Charles, Alexandria and Houma and 30,000 college students are the losers in Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive budget presented to the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday.
Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, presents his bill to the Senate Education Committee setting a baseline for TOPS scholarship awards so that the amount of money awarded per student would stay constant even if tuition raised. Credit: D.B. Narveson
The Senate Committee on Education, wrangling with a half dozen bills April 7 designed to transform the TOPS scholarship program, landed on one that unhooks the scholarships from tuition costs.
As the House Education Committee plowed through eight TOPS-related bills Wednesday, frustration with the tuition-paying program spilled over into a pointed exchange between Rep. Chris Broadwaer, R-Hammond, and a representative from the Patrick F.
The House Education Committee is scheduled to hear 10 TOPS-related bills Wednesday as legislators begin looking for more than $200 million to fully fund the popular scholarship program for the fall and spring semesters of the 2016-17 academic year.
LSUE was spared most of the $797,151 budget cut it faced earlier this year, and a remaining cut of about $110,000 will be made up by not filling six positions that have opened up this semester.
