If the budget bill (HB1) currently moving through the Louisiana Legislature is not amended Northwestern State University is slated to lose $9.4 million in state appropriations. This will bring Northwestern State’s total state funding reductions since fiscal year 2008/09 to $27.3 million (55 percent). As the current budget proposal stands, total reductions in state general fund support for all of higher education since FY 2008/09 would reach $585 million. “The budget approved by the House would be catastrophic for the university,” said Northwestern State President Dr. Randall J. Webb. Over 70 percent of the State of Louisiana’s operating budget is protected through constitutional or statutory dedications, federal mandates and unavoidable obligations. Higher education does not enjoy any constitutional protection from cuts. Consequently, when the state faces significant shortfalls, higher education, along with healthcare, takes the brunt of the reductions.
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