During Louisiana’s 2011 Legislative Session (April 25-June 23) several bills and proposals to alter, strengthen or do away with policies that affect agencies all over the state are being discussed. President John L. Crain’s office posted a message to the university regarding five proposed bills that could alter some campus policies on June 7. However, after just a week’s time, the information in the president’s message is already outdated.
Executive Director of Public and Governmental Affairs Erin Moore Cowser attested to the session’s ever-shifting nature.
“By the time this story comes out, everything will have changed,” said Cowser. “Until the end of the session we’re researching the possibilities and providing information so that we can benefit our university and students.”
The bills mentioned in Crain’s message are House Bill (HB) 537, HB 413, the legislation often referred to as the Grad Act 2.0, HB 448, and HB 97.
HB 537 is the name of the controversial proposal of Governor Bobby Jindal to merge Southern University of New Orleans and the University of New Orleans (UNO). That portion of the bill has failed, however, it’s second incarnation, which would move UNO in the University of Louisiana System (ULS), has passed.
“Right now there are issues with the cost of transition,” said Cowser. “The cost of the transition of UNO into the ULS is not included in the state budget and the Board of Regents and the ULS have taken cuts nobody wants to pay.”
The status of HB 413, advocated by Rep. Ernest Wooton, was stated correctly in Crain’s
message. The bill would allow for concealed weapons to be carried on campus, but failed.
The bill known as Grad Act 2.0 has been amended, but it’s still in the works.
“It now requires the approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the budget, which is about half house and half senate,” Said Cowser. “We’re still active in researching and working with legislators to find out the impact it will have on students and the campus.”
HB 448, proposed by Rep. Hollis Downs would have allowed “institutions to charge for up to 15 credit hours instead of capping tuition at the current 12 credit hours.” Under this condition, Southeastern could generate an extra $6 million a year, however the bill has since changed to creating a course withdrawal fee. However, the bill has been returned to the calendar for a later date.
“This is very muddy,” said Cowser. “Southeastern has already established refund policies for dropped classes. We asked or representatives to not move forward with this one.”
The final bill discussed by Crain, HB 97, has failed since its mention in Crain’s message. Proposed by Rep. Frank Coffman, the bill would alter the way operational fees are calculated. The bill would base operational fees off of four percent of a university’s current tuition instead of the 2004 tuition level that was in effect when the fee was created. If it passed, Crain predicted this bill would generate $1 million in revenue for the university.