Louisiana higher education advocates plead for stable funding before important state budget panel - ELIZABETH CRISP, New Orleans Advocate

House Appropriations Chairman Jim Fannin, R-Jonesboro, said lawmakers are working to stave off the cuts, though he admitted nothing has been figured out at this point — the first week of the legislative session. “All of us understand how important higher education is,” he said. “I’ve not had one conversation where they didn’t ask me, ‘Let’s figure out a way that we can work through this higher education piece, so that we don’t have the cuts that’s in front of us today.’ ” Preston Castille, president of the Southern University Alumni Federation, said the potential for such deep cuts hits especially hard after years of repeated cuts to state funding. “As you very well know, higher education has been devastated over the last six years with all the budget cuts,” he said. “It’s difficult to run a system in that fashion.” http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/12109072-123/higher-ed-advocates-plead-for