The Special Legislative Session that began on Valentine’s Day continues with Louisiana Legislation discussing the budget shortfall for the 2015-16 fiscal year and future.
One of the key concerns for college students took place on Feb. 11 in regards to Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS).
“I cannot guarantee students that the general fund portion of TOPS will be funded next year,” said Governor John Bel Edwards on a radio interview with Jim Engster on “The Jim Engster Show.”
On Feb. 12, the Governor followed with a statement for what will be taking place for the current semester.
“Students on TOPS this semester will not see cuts,” said Edwards in a statement on TOPS funding. “The universities will absorb the TOPS shortfall this year. Students will not receive any bills for this shortfall or lose any TOPS awards this semester. For this semester, [Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance]LOSFA has only been able to pay universities 80 percent of students’ TOPS bills. This is due in part of the previous administration not budgeting properly for all students who would be using TOPS this year. However, the budget problems created by the previous administration do have the potential to hurt students directly.”
According to Vice President of Administration and Finance Sam Domiano, the university absorbed approximately $2.1 million due to the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance only being able to pay 80% of TOPS awards. Southeastern is currently taking a variety of maneuvers to address this issue.
“Some of the steps the university has taken to date include the implementation of both a hiring freeze and an expenditure freeze in an effort to absorb the TOPS reduction and potential reductions,” said Domiano. “The university will also withhold budgeted merit adjustments to faculty and staff, both unclassified and classified. The faculty and staff have not had a merit of cost of living adjustment since the 2008 to 2009 fiscal year, with the exception of a one-time salary supplement to faculty and unclassified staff in the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year, and a two percent increase for classified staff in the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year that rolled into their base in the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year.”
Edwards hopes that the legislation will work together so the TOPS program does not continue to be reduced.
“Next year, as it stands, TOPS is only funded 25 percent, unless the legislature acts to change that,” said Edwards in the statement on TOPS funding. “This means few TOPS scholarships will be awarded next year. That is why it is important for the legislature to work with me to balance this budget and prevent future cuts to the TOPS Scholarship Program.”
No. 14 of Edwards call for the Special Legislative Session was to repeal the Student Assessment for a Valuable Education, or SAVE, Act. The SAVE Act is the only repeal that is listed under the 38 items for consideration.
On Thursday, Feb. 18, the Louisiana House voted to kill the SAVE Act with a vote 95-0. The Act now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Originally, Representative Chris Broadwater sponsored the SAVE Act but no longer favors it.
“To be clear, the SAVE Act was everything you heard it was,” Broadwater told the House on Thursday. “It was accounting gimmicks. It was a credit that no one received, no one paid and didn’t benefit anyone.”
At the current moment, the TOPS status is not finalized yet and the Special Legislation is allowed to continue until Mar. 9 under the Louisiana Constitution.
The university encourages students to continue to perform in their academic studies to the best of their ability.
“First and foremost, we want our students to focus on their studies,” said Domiano. “You decided to attend Southeastern in order to attain an education at the baccalaureate, masters or doctoral level, and that goal should not change.”
Students are recommended to keep up to date on budget issues because they can change at a moment’s notice.
“With such a short session and such enormous budget shortfalls to address, the details change daily if not hourly,” said Domiano. “As president, Dr. Crain is often called upon during Legislative Sessions to provide information for legislators so they can make informed decisions.”
The university is currently working their hardest to ensure that the students are least affected by any budget cuts that may take place.
“Sadly, higher education leaders have had to balance the severity of the cuts while simultaneously doing our best to impact students as little as possible so they can continue to work toward their educational goals,” said Domiano. “It’s a classic Catch 22. If the enormity of the cuts and their impacts are full disclosed to the public, there are accusations of using scare tactics. If we do our job to minimize the impacts of cuts, there are accusations that the cuts haven’t really been that bad and therefore more cuts won’t hurt.”
For students who wish to keep up to date with legislative issues, the Alumni Association sends updates regularly through their free network.
“We encourage students to consider registering for the free ROAR Network at cicit.net/southeastern, coordinated by our Alumni Association,” said Domiano. “Updates are sent regularly for students and registrants can also follow bill paths as they make their way through the legislative process. Registrants also have access to all legislator’s emails and committee assignments via Roar.
Make sure to search for accurate information on the budget crisis.
“The best advice for students and residents in general is to get engaged and stay informed with valid information,” said Domiano. “Be thorough and make sure the information you’re reading comes from truly unbiased sources so that you can have the full story when sharing your opinion with legislators and others.