Officials across state government departments are bracing for the worst in light of budget cuts under consideration by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. A budget shortfall of $1.4 billion is projected for the 2015-2016 fiscal year—a figure that could further balloon due to falling oil prices—and the state’s higher education institutions likely will bear the brunt of efforts to bring the budget into balance.
Collectively, the state’s four higher education systems could see more than $350 million cut from their budgets; that would be nearly $1 million per day over the coming fiscal year.
State Senate President John Alario, who began his legislative career in the early 1970s, says this pending budget crisis is one of the worst he has seen and that as many as 16 campuses around the state could be closed—including, potentially, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
“It would be devastating,” Alario tells Daily Report. “All of the institutions are in danger at this point and that’s why we need to begin to devise a plan to avoid all that from happening. It will take a lot of cooperation.”
