During a hearing today on the shaky funding picture for colleges and universities this session, members of the Senate Finance Committee ventured slightly off message and voiced frustration over the rising cost of higher ed retirement benefits.
Total retirement-related debt for LSU has reached $199 million, according to LSU President F. King Alexander. When coupled with paying out benefits, he said, half of every state dollar flowing through the university is somehow connected to funding the retirement system.
With lawmakers scrambling to find upward of $600 million to make higher ed whole this session, and a $1.6 billion budget shortfall making it all the more difficult, some senators said they were worried a larger problem was being overlooked. “It don’t think it matters how much money we keep giving you,” said Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, adding he hoped university officials would one day consider replacing the defined benefit pension model with a 401(k)-type framework.
Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, told senators that his system is paying 30% to 35% more than it’s getting in return from its state-run retirement plans. “We’d like to manage our own system,” he said. “I don’t think long-term we can sustain the benefits we’re offering.”
The situation could be become critical in 14 years when the yearly payments toward the state’s unfunded accrued liability, the retirement debt commonly referred to as the UAL, are due in full. Payments will balloon in an attempt to resolve the currently $19 billion debt in the teacher and state employee pension plans. “This only gets worse in ’29 and then,” Alexander said, making a rising noise while pointing up.
White added, “It’s close to a break point, where the new governor and Legislature coming in will have to make some tough decisions.”
—House members are planning to make a push this session to reform the capital outlay process. They may run into opposition from the Senate, which traditionally does a tad better with scoring money for state construction projects through the annual capital outlay bill. The House passed a similar reform measure authored by Ways and Means Chairman Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, three years ago that died on the other side.
Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, may get a hearing Tuesday on HB 495, which is on the agenda for the Ways and Means Committee. It would give lawmakers more of a say in which projects move to the state Bond Commission for final approval. Right now the administration has complete control, whereas Talbot wants to give the final say to the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay.
“The way it is now, the governor controls the bond agenda,” Talbot said. “If (my bill) is passed it would become more transparent on which projects get funded.”
—Considering all of the injuries seen from their annual basketball games, and from the last time they walked into Tiger Stadium, you’d think lawmakers might think twice about a flag football game. Even if it is for charity.
“It’s not fiscally or physically wise,” said Rep. Chris Leopold, R-Belle Chasse, one of the many organizers. “I caught a touchdown pass last time we did this, and it was quite a catch. When I caught the ball I was so happy and so surprised that when I went to spike it I fell down.”
The “Truce for Troops Bowl” is being put together for the families of the Louisiana National Guardsmen who were killed in March following a tragic helicopter crash. Rep. Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans, said it’s a way to honor their lives and help their families.
It is being hosted by the House Special Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs, but they are looking for sponsors. Tickets are likewise available: $50 for adults, $10 for students and free to children 12 and under. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. Sunday in Tiger Stadium, with gates opening at 2 p.m. and a reception afterward. Get involved by calling (504) 483-4711 or sending an email to larep094@legis.la.gov.
Jeremy Alford will publish a daily update throughout the legislative session on Daily Report PM. He reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
