Back at it: Louisiana lawmakers, struggling with budget shortfalls, are again looking to restructure the TOPS college tuition program to lessen costs. As The Associated Press reports, proposals to restructure TOPS include boosting the grade point average required to get the scholarship award or steering more of the money to needy students. Another measure would require students who receive TOPS to work in Louisiana after college or repay some money spent on their tuition. This year, for the first time, lawmakers didn’t fully fund TOPS, instead covering only 70% of tuition costs for eligible students. Next year’s budget proposal starts off with the same financing plan. Gov. John Bel Edwards wants to add money to TOPS and is proposing tax increases to fill the $82 million gap in the program for the 2017-18 year. But the tax package faces significant opposition.
Pink tax: Just days before the Louisiana Legislature is set to convene on Monday, Sen. J.P. Morrell says he’s already receiving blowback for sponsoring a bill that would provide a state sales tax exemption for diapers, tampons and other feminine hygiene products. Senate Bill 24 would ban state sales taxes for tampons, pantiliners, cloth and disaposal diapers size 7 and smaller, menstrual pads, sponges and cups. But Morrell, D-New Orleans, tells the Manship News Service that some men are already arguing the bill is a “special handout” to women, and that it is only fair their beer and fast food be exempt as well. Read the full story.
Up and down: Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the job market appears to be increasingly secure for workers. The Associated Press reports weekly applications for unemployment aid plunged 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000. The Labor Department says the four-week average, a less volatile measure, dipped to 250,000. Over the past year, the number of people collecting benefits had tumbled 7.2% to 2.03 million. U.S. workers are facing a lower risk of losing their jobs, since applications are a proxy for layoffs. The weekly figure has remained below 300,000, a level linked with job growth, for 109 weeks. That’s the longest such stretch since 1970, when the U.S. population was much smaller.
