Looming cuts could shutter La. campuses

Members of the Senate’s budget panel said Thursday they expect that impending cuts to colleges could shutter some campuses, but when pressed to make choices, higher education leaders wouldn’t offer suggestions.

The discussion in the Senate Finance Committee was tied to an expectation the state won’t have money to replace the loss of $290 million in federal stimulus cash that is helping to fund higher education – but disappears on July 1, 2011. The governor and lawmakers have opposed raising taxes to fill gaps.

“I think we need to close some universities. I think we need to consolidate some universities,” said Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville.

Louisiana has 14 four-year universities. Commissioner of Higher Education Sally Clausen said the state exceeds the average number of four-year schools per capita by state, and she acknowledged “we are probably a little bit high” compared to other states.

“So, how many should we have?” asked Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte.

Clausen refused to answer. “I think it’s not going to be about how many should we have. It’s how many can we afford?’ she replied.

LaFleur said lawmakers won’t be able to make those choices on their own because they’ll want to protect the schools in their area.

“To avoid the parochialism, you have to have someone at the top who can avoid that,” he said, suggesting Clausen was that person.

LSU System President John Lombardi argued the state should have 14 “well-funded” four-year universities. If higher education is cut by $290 million, he said, “then we can’t afford 14.”

The loss of stimulus money would come after budget cuts over the past year and a half have sliced state funding to the schools by more than $250 million. The House has proposed additional cuts in the upcoming 2010-11 budget year, even before the stimulus money disappears in 2011-12.

Even as some senators and university leaders argued the types of budget cuts looming for higher education would force closures, Sen. Mike Walsworth complained about a recent presentation by college officials in which they offered closure scenarios.

Clausen and the college system leaders presented a spreadsheet that shows what things will look like without the stimulus money in 13 months – if the gaps aren’t filled in with state dollars.

One scenario showed the state’s eight smallest four-year schools shut down and 50,000 students displaced. Clausen stressed she wasn’t proposing these ideas, but was offering information requested by lawmakers.

Walsworth, R-West Monroe, said that scenario – which included the shutdown of several schools in and around his district in north Louisiana – was inappropriate and careless. He said it already was prompting some parents to reconsider where they want to send their children to college and could make some potential donors reconsider contributions to schools.

“When the leaders of higher education throw something out like that, it is taken seriously, very seriously,” Walsworth said. “It was reckless in a lot of ways.”

At least one other lawmaker has called the presentation a scare tactic by higher education.

But Walsworth was alone Thursday in the Finance Committee in his criticism.

Sen. Mike Michot, chairman of the committee, said House leaders had asked for plans about what the loss of the stimulus money would look like.

“Obviously, it sent shockwaves through the system,” said Michot, R-Lafayette. “Obviously, it’s something that no one wants to see, but I guess it does bring into reality the scope of these cuts.”

Sen. Sherri Cheek, R-Keithville, agreed. “It woke some folks up,” she said.