A bill by Rep. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, that would use some of the proceeds from Pinnacle Entertainment’s River Road casino to bolster higher education in the parish has moved on to the House Appropriations Committee. Foil’s bill passed the House Committee on Criminal Justice by a 14-0 vote Wednesday; it would dedicate some of the revenue generated by the Pinnacle casino to LSU, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. The money that normally goes into the Support Education in Louisiana First Fund would go to an East Baton Rouge Parish Higher Education Improvement Fund. Foil estimates dedicating the fund would mean an additional $4 million a year for East Baton Rouge higher education, based on revenue estimates for the Pinnacle casino. “This legislation will help our area universities cope with future budget cuts without increasing taxes on working families or increasing tuition for students,” Foil says.
Foil bill moves on to appropriations committee
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