During a House Education Committee meeting today, Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith, D-Baton Rouge, told Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Rallo the Louisiana Board of Regents is partly to blame for the financial woes the state’s higher education system is facing.
She also expressed skepticism about whether the board could handle increased responsibilities as the committee debated a House bill that, if approved, would abolish three unpaid, volunteer education boards and hand their duties over to the Board of Regents.
Authored by Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, HB 842 would abolish the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission, the Medifund Board, and the Executive Board of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium for Research and Education.
The Board of Regents would take on the responsibilities of the three boards, which include overseeing the state office of financial aid, a fund promoting medical education, and promoting coastal and marine education and research.
Broadwater said the legislation would increase efficiency. However, abolishing the three boards would not create any savings because they are made up of unpaid, voluntary members.
But Smith said the Board of Regents should focus on the higher ed system’s financial problems before taking on additional responsibilities.
“There is an opinion among the Legislature that (the Board of) Regents should be abolished, that you haven’t done your job very well,” she told Rallo as he testified before the committee.
In return, Rallo said that while he didn’t think the board has shirked its responsibilities, HB 842 could give it a chance to impress its critics.
With some minor amendments, the committee unanimously passed the bill.
Also approved by House Education was HB 906, by Rep. James Armes, D-Leesville, which would make it easier for students entering college who have been homeless or in the foster care system to claim resident status in Louisiana.
“Because of the transience of homeless children, and frequently those in foster care as well, they may have moved around between a few states,” said Dylan Waguespack of Louisiana Progress, testifying before the committee.
The bill also would provide services for the students once they arrive at college, including help with housing and a dedicated financial aid officer specializing in the complex policy surrounding homeless and foster students.
—Gordon Brillon
Jeremy Alford and Gordon Brillon will publish a daily update throughout the legislative regular session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
