Louisiana's public colleges could receive some protection from budget cuts when they raise tuition on students, under a bill that won support from the state House.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's public colleges could receive some protection from budget cuts when they raise tuition on students, under a bill that won support from the state House.
Recently when schools have increased tuition and fees, Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature have stripped similar amounts of state general fund money from the higher education budget.
New Orleans Rep. Walt Leger, a Democrat, says that maneuver is inappropriate. He's proposing a constitutional amendment to ban the replacing of state funds with college tuition and fee hikes in the state budget, with exceptions during a deficit.
The House voted 72-19 for the proposal Monday. If approved by the Senate and voters in a statewide election, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2016.