A dozen proposals are in various stages before the 2017 Legislature, each attempting to shore up the beloved but beleaguered scholarship program.
Everything from post-graduate residency requirements to increased GPA requirements to eliminating its dedicated funding have been offered.
Here is a synopsis of those bills, their authors and where they currently stand:
House Bill 91 – Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge
Foil’s bill would establish the TOPS Gaming Income Fund and allocate the money collected from the 15 percent franchise fee on net proceeds from gambling enterprises to the TOPS program.
Those proceeds currently are deposited into the state general fund. Legislative fiscal note estimates that $262.6 million would be deposited into the TOPS fund in Fiscal Year 2018 as a result of this bill
HB91 is pending in the House Appropriations Committee.
House Bill 117 – Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge
HB 117 would raise the minimum GPA required for initial TOPS eligibility. Under current law, students must have a 2.5 GPA to receive the TOPS Tech Award or a TOPS Opportunity Award, or a 3.0 GPA for a Performance Award or an Honors Award.
The GPA requirements for the Performance Award and the Honors Award are scheduled to increase to a 3.25 and 3.5 GPA, respectively, with the 2020-2021 graduating class at the state’s high schools.
Foil’s law would also increase GPA requirements for the Opportunity Award to a 3.0. The bill is pending in the House Education Committee.
House Bill 194 – Gene Reynolds, D-Minden
Reynolds has proposed the same GPA increases in his bill as did Foil, but HB194 also provides for eligibility and exceptions to enrollment rules.
The current law requires students to enroll in college as soon as they graduate high school and maintain continuous enrollment, although the Board of Regents can grant exceptions to this rule.
Reynolds’s bill would establish a formal procedure for requesting an exception and create specific causes for which expectations can be granted, including entering the workforce before college for no more than five years.
HB194 is pending in the House Education Committee.
House Bill 236 – Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston
Shadoin’s bill is a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate a majority of constitutional funding dedications, including the TOPS Fund. The previously dedicated money would then be deposited into the general fund.
The bill is pending in the House Appropriations Committee.
House Bill 390 – Gary Carter, D-New Orleans
This bill would require the Legislature to appropriate enough money to cover the TOPS awards as well as “recouple” TOPS with tuition increases for high-performing students from low-income households.
The present law “decoupled” TOPS from tuition increases by fixing the award amount for an institution at the tuition level in the current academic year. Carter’s bill would move future funding levels at the amount awarded in upcoming 2017-2018.
Those whose earned family income is no more than twice the amount necessary to qualify for a Pell Grant and who have earned at least a 30 on the ACT score would qualify for TOPS increases as tuition increases.
HB390 is pending House Education Committee.
House Bill 570 – Dee Richard, I-Thibadaux
Richard’s bill would require a 15 percent reduction in the money spent on professional, personal and consulting services by the state. Those saving would then be deposited into the TOPS Fund.
HB 570 would also set requirements for consulting contracts. Contracts could only be approved if no employee of the contracting department could perform the job, the services are not available as part of an existing contract, the contracting agency has submitted a plan to monitor performance, it is more cost effective to contract, or the contract represents a priority expenditure for the state.
The bill is pending in the House Appropriations Committee.
House Bill 585 – Jay Morris, R-Monroe
Morris’s bill would reduce the amount of gaming revenues dedicated to the horse breeding industry by 50 percent and dedicate that money to TOPS awards. It would also reduce the amount horse racing facilities are required to supplement for purses for horsemen from 20 percent to 10 percent, with the remaining 10 percent dedicated to the TOPS fund. The legislative fiscal notes estimate this would provide $36 million each year.
The bill is pending in the House Appropriations Committee.
House Bill 656 – Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston
This bill would establish a 5.75 mills ad valorem property tax with revenues dedicated to the TOPS Fund. Those who own property assessed at $10,000 would be charged a $57.50 tax annually.
The bill is pending debate in the House Ways and Means committee.
Senate Bill 71 – Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, and Senate Bill 157 – Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell
These bills both attempt to fix inconsistent language in TOPS legislation so that the amount of a TOPS award paid to an enrolled student would be equal to the tuition charged by the public college or university during the 2016-2017 academic year.
Donahue’s bill is pending in the Senate floor and Hewitt’s bill is pending in the Senate Education Committee.
Senate Bill 110 – Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria
Luneau’s bill would have established post-graduation residency requirements for TOPS award recipients, but the Senate Education Committee declined to bring it to a vote after testimony Friday.
Recipients would have to demonstrate Louisiana residency for at least as long post graduation as they received the award. If students leave the state, they would have to pay back half of what they received.
Senate Bill 145 – Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge
Currently, students enrolled at Tulane University are entitled to a weighted average of the TOPS program funds awarded to public university students who meet the same requirements.
Claitor’s bill would apply the Tulane Legislative Scholarship to a student’s bill before applying the TOPS award.
Claitor’s bill is pending in the House Education Committee.