After the conclusion of the second special session I finally
understand why the state of Louisiana can’t produce a stable, realistically
funded operating budget. It is apparent that our legislators in the House
have a gambling problem and need immediate intervention from Gamblers’
Anonymous. The presently crafted state budget follows closely those
of the past eight years of Jindal’s reign in its reliance on vapor monies that
may or may not develop in the future.
However, I, as did many others,
mistakenly thought that Jindal was the cause of the Louisiana’s budgetary
woes. It was never Jindal, it was the gambler addicts in Baton Rouge
operating under the guise of paid legislators gambling with the taxpayers’
money that caused the fiscal mess left by the previous administration, and that
still exists. Not only are they gamblers, but they’re lousy gamblers, as
evidenced by a litany of mid-year budget deficits.
There is no better example of this out of control addiction
than the recent funding of TOPS. The House members decided to cut TOPS
rather than deal with corporate tax breaks. They decided to fund it at
70%, leaving parents to come up with the additional 30% each college semester. However, House
members couldn’t resist the thrill of the bet, so they added the stipulation
that TOPS would pay 100% for fall tuition and only 40% for spring
tuition. They claimed this would soften the blow for parents and give
them time to save up the money for the spring bill. I don’t know about
you but my attempts at saving up for things in the distant future are often
radically altered by emergencies that arrive in my household budget, car
repairs, house AC failures, emergency medical care, etc. I’d rather pay
two smaller payments spread apart than one big payment due all at once in the
future.
However, in true professional gambling style House
legislators teased parents with the added hook that, if more monies become
available, those funds would be applied to the spring TOPS funding level which
might allow for 100% funding. In eight years our legislators have never
been able to produce a budget that didn’t require more midyear monies from
additional state services’ cuts. What evidence is there to assume more
monies would be available this year when they’re still $300 million short and
monies from corporate revenue and franchise taxes are in the deficit column to
the tune of $152 million? Do they really think the oil price knight is
going to ride in on his horse and save the day?
Additionally, their latest front-loading TOPS plan could
impact applications for student financial aid. Financial aid applications
must be completed before the beginning of school. Students don’t
wish to borrow more monies than are necessary, and consequently they may be
drawn into the gambling game, and not apply at all, hoping that TOPS will be
fully funded in the spring. However, there is an additional
problem. Student financial aid is usually distributed in two equal payments,
one in the fall and the other in the spring. Students might be
tempted to spend some of the funds during the first semester needed for the
second semester increased tuition cost. It would take careful budgeting
on the part of young students to make sure there were enough total funds
available for second semester tuition.
I suspect that the consequences of this present House of
Representatives gambling game will be increases in dropout rates during the
2016-2017 school year for failure to afford second semester costs.
One has to wonder how long it will take before our House
members decide it’s time to “fold ‘em” and quite the game. I also
wonder how many of our esteemed legislators watched the recent edition of the
HBO TV show VICE which dealt with the systematic destruction of higher
education in Louisiana by their gambling driven budgets. LSU was featured
because of the recent cuts to higher education, some of the worst in the
nation. I’m sure that will do a lot to bring in more monies for the state.
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