Tulane University appreciates New Orleans’ sacrifices

July 1^st marked the implementation of the new state operating budget.  Since no one seems to have a handle on just how much the newly enacted revenue raising measures will generate for the state, we’ll have to wait and see if the traditional mid-year funding cuts will appear yet again this fiscal year.

One clear result of the latest budget rework is that parishes throughout the state are going to have to pick up the slack left by the reduced state-funded services.

However, this may not be an easy task for our local parishes since one of their major sources of funding is from property taxes.  Orleans parish which encompasses New Orleans is particularly vulnerable due to its greater dependence on state funding.

In fact, even before the latest budget crisis at the state level, New Orleans had a cash flow problem.  According to the Bureau of Governmental Research nearly 60% of all New Orleans’ property exempt from taxes for reasons other than the homestead exemption is publicly owned and has been granted exemption at the state level.

Tulane University falls into this category.  It owns about 10% of this tax free land due to a little known ‘good ole boys’ agreement between the state and Tulane University.  It is a state regulation known in Baton Rouge as the “Tulane University Exemption Allocation Regulation.”

This regulation “established general applicability, definitions and requirements as it pertains to application of a statewide exemption in favor of Tulane University.”

Basically, this regulation permits the private Tulane University exemption from property taxes on properties used for educational purposes, and vacant, non-income producing properties.  Additionally, Tulane pays no property tax on income producing properties up to a maximum statewide total limit of $5 million in fair market value. 

In return for this tax exemption each member of the state Legislature gets a one year tuition-paid scholarship to Tulane that he or she can give out each school year.  Even the mayor of New Orleans gets in on the deal for he gets to dole out five such scholarships.  Tulane set the value of the scholarship for the 2015-16 school year at $45,758.  Apparently this is not just some recent agreement for it has been going on in one form or another for 125 years, and no one is willing to even suggest it be reduced or eliminated entirely.

Perks given to our esteemed leaders for a local tax break, but a double edged sword for New Orleans, cutting state support while at the same time continuing to block avenues for additional revenue.

To add insult to injury Tulane is also eligible for TOPS money.

This is the kind of preferential gaming that continues in Baton Rouge and causes one to wonder if there is any sincere desire to right Louisiana’s fiscal ship.

However, at the end of the day, it’s important that as the folks in New Orleans reach further into their pockets to come up with that extra money to support city services they remember how thankful Tulane University is for their sacrifice.

Just how many other buried “good ole boys” deals are operating at our state capital and what is their impact on other parishes throughout our state?

Legislaltors' gambling addiction hurts students

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.

Once again our House representatives have failed us

Don’t let the rhetoric of the House Republicans in Baton Rouge dominating the headlines of the news media fool you.  While House members loudly advocate they are protecting the residents of this state from more taxes, their real agenda behind the scenes in the latest special session is to yet again protect the businesses represented by the LABI, petroleum, gas and chemical lobbyists from any changes in the corporate tax codes.

State lawmakers over the years at the request of the LABI and other lobbyists have been overly generous in increasing business tax subsidies under the banner of attracting new businesses to Louisiana. Over time a tax break here and a tax break there have accumulated and increased the burden on the state budget.  Examination of the tax breaks for six major programs alone indicated an increase from $207 million in 2004 to over $1.08 billion by 2014.

According to the Department of Revenue, through March of this year the state has paid out $152 million more to corporations than it had collected in corporate income and franchise taxes.  State officials have projected that corporate tax collections will reach $359 million through June 30. That would require a $511 million turnaround over the next  three months.  Obviously, this seems unlikely to occur.

While no one is claiming that large numbers of corporations are violating the law to avoid paying taxes, what has happened is these tax codes are significantly negatively impacting our state budget, and our legislators have refused to even cursory review the tax codes.  They are simply taboo.

However, I can’t fault Stephen Waguespack, president of the LABI for his behind the scenes high-jacking of this latest special session, for he is just doing his job. Obviously the threats of ‘toe the line’ or else risk a possible LABI supported anti-re-election campaign is just too much for our esteemed House legislators to stomach.  They haven’t the spine for it.

 

If you’re tempted to congratulate your representatives on the fine job they’ve done protecting you from new taxes, while reducing funding for state services, please understand that this budget mess could be solved with a fiscally responsible restructuring of the state corporate tax system coupled with a reduction in the sales tax.  That is, if our Baton Rouge folks could break free from their indentured servant mentality to their lobbyist masters.

I say we give kudos to the LABI, oil, chemical and gas lobbyists in strong-arming yet again the House of Representatives in the Baton Rouge special session about to conclude with no fiscal solution in sight.

However the sad truth is, those elected to protect the citizens of this state have chosen yet again the easier path, total capitulation.

TOPS Recipients Akin to SNAP Recipients

Yesterday Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law a bill that will allow middle income and upper income residents in the state to join the ranks of many of its poor residents by allowing them to continue participating in their own entitlement program. 

The one designed for the poor, the often criticized welfare assistance program SNAP, is the largest entitlement program presently operating in the state.   It provides financial aid in purchasing food items for those meeting certain financial guidelines.

The entitlement program for all the other residents of the state is known as  the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS).  If you have a child that is a C plus student and earns an average ACT score, you as parents receive financial aid in paying 100% of the college tuition costs. 

Ironically, Taylor’s website relates the history of the program as follows:   “That mission received national attention when he (Taylor) promised to send 183 underprivileged, underachieving 7th and 8th graders, affectionately dubbed “Taylor’s Kids,” to college if they studied rigorously, maintained a B average, and stayed out of trouble. A man of integrity, he was true to his word.”

Taylor’s desire was to help underprivileged kids, that academically achieved, go to college.

Years ago state legislators decided to take TOPS, an exemplary academic achievement program, dumb it down, and turn it into a cash cow for mostly the middle and upper class residents of this state funded with taxpayers’ money.

Because of the budget deficit, our esteem legislators had the chance to let TOPS return automatically to one of its original intents, an academic rewards program.  Built into the current TOPS law was a clause stating that if there weren’t enough monies to fully fund the program only the highest achieving students would receive tuition funds.

However, our legislators would have none of this so they passed the most recent bill altering the present policy by splitting the available funds equally among all who apply even if those funds will cover only part of the tuition.  And sadly, the financially disadvantaged, the target of the original Taylor Plan, participate the least in the program.

Tuesday, state legislators stated that the bill, just signed into law by Edwards, distributing the monies equally was unacceptable and that they intend to cut K-12, college, university and hospital monies to fully fund TOPS so that all applicants will receive their full entitlement of 100% of tuition costs.

However, maybe some good will come from all this TOPS mess.  Next time a TOPS parent sees someone using a SNAP card in the grocery line and just feels this person could probably really afford the groceries rather than relying on his/her paying taxes for the funding of that entitlement program,  perhaps, they will see the similarity.

Family Values, Not Guns Hold Answer

Friday, a 22 year old one-time star of The Voice, Christina Grimmie, was shot while signing autographs after performing for about 60 to 100 people.  This past week a Stanford college athlete was given a slap on the wrist by a male judge for savagely raping an unconscious young woman.  Two weeks ago, a record 21 crimes were committed over the weekend in neighboring New Orleans.  In the small, peaceful town of Natalbany three people were recently murdered.  

Daily our newspapers report more and more criminal activity in neighborhoods where residents have lived for years in a totally crime-free environment.   In the recent primaries held for selecting nominees for the highest, most respected office in this nation violence erupted.  Obviously more and more individuals have adopted the belief that there is no room for divergent thoughts, and human life is no longer of value.

It is apparent that individuals in our society have become so selfish in their desires for immediate gratification, and acceptance of their ways of thought, that anything that is perceived as getting in their way is simply dealt with through acts of violence.

Our citizens are certainly not lacking in their causal hypotheses and solutions for dealing with this acidic societal environment.   The blame games include the President, the liberals advocating what some perceive as an anti-religion agenda, the ACLU, government entitlement programs, the breakdown of sexual mores, the proliferation of social media, racism; the list is voluminous.  Additionally, the most vocal solution involves arming our society for protection.   We now allow university students and public school teachers to pack guns, and pass laws not requiring permits for hidden weapons.  Sadly this is not a solution but simply a reaction.

We as a society need to come to grips with reality and put the blame for this societal ailment where it rightfully belongs, on the breakdown of family values and parents’ use of the ’entitlement philosophy’ in raising many of the  children that now compose our younger adult population.

Sadly, today we have still not acknowledged our mistakes and continue to feed this violent society. 

How many families sit down as a unit each night for dinner uninterrupted by any type of media?  How many parents simply tell their children ‘no’ without the need to reason with them or use widely accepted diversion techniques?  Why do we feel the need to instill in our children that they are ‘entitled’ to everything?  For example, why do we give trophies to everyone on the losing sports team just so they won’t feel bad even though they don’t deserve a trophy?  We let young children decide what they will wear to be stylish or what they want to eat at meals.  If the young child wants his/her sandwich cut in triangles rather than squares, we throw out the square ones because he/she is entitled to get the triangle shapes wanted.   Today’s parents love electronic devices that allow them to interact less with their children to the degree that auto manufacturers now  have Wi Fi hot spots in cars so that our children can play mindless games or watch a movie on their media devices while traveling which allows parents to avoid all interaction with their children.  Additionally, parents allow their children to post unregulated material on Facebook and other social media groups because they feel their children are entitled to have their personal freedom and privacy.  Parents pay large sums of money for those prom dresses because mommy and daddy’s little girl is entitled to be the belle of the ball.

 

In parents’ quest for wanting the best for their children they continue to blur the line between that desire and instilling in their children a narcissistic–like self-esteem, making them think the world revolves around them coupled with a desire for immediate gratification.

And that’s where we function today, a society filled with many individuals who feel they are ‘entitled’ just because they exist.  But unfortunately these entitled folks also have guns.

Please, let’s stop blaming others and assume responsibility.  Our society can be healed over time because parents can choose to raise their kids as contributing members of society rather than takers