One budget battle down; now here's Louisiana Legislature's next step - TYLER BRIDGES, the Advocate

After nearly a decade of cuts in spending on state government, professors are leaving Louisiana’s colleges and public universities to take more attractive jobs elsewhere, some of the state’s technical and community college campuses are facing possible closure and the state’s roads are crumbling while traffic jams are worsening. In the budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year that he released on Thursday, Edwards said a lack of funding is forcing him to fund the TOPS scholarships once again at only 70 percent of the full tuition cost. Lawmakers will have the final say, but no one can be certain whether they will make the necessary changes to restore the lost funding for TOPS or the many other programs facing more cuts. http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_2bfeb820-fb05-11e6-ae7a-6b9e7ca812cf.html