College tuition bill stalls in House

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 3, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Louisiana House put the brakes Monday on a plan that would allow public college tuition to increase by up to 5 percent a year for the next four school years.

The House altered the bill to require approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget before implementation of any tuition increase, making the schools go through another approval step.

Then, the House voted 68-31 for the fee-raising measure — two votes shy of the 70 votes needed for passage of the fee-raising measure.

Another attempt to pass the legislation would be made later this week or no later than next week once the bill’s sponsor and higher education officials feel more comfortable they have the votes, Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Savoie said.

“It’s got to happen by next week,” Savoie said. “It’ll be a rush to get it done if it’s next week.”

Only three weeks remain in the legislative session and the bill still must go through the Senate and its committees.

“It’s frustrating we didn’t get it done, but I don’t feel defeated,” Savoie said. “It’s doable.”

On the House floor, bill sponsor state Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, said his House Bill 734 seeks “a modest increase, an inflationary increase.”

Trahan said tuition rates in Louisiana are second lowest among Southern states and among the lowest in the United States.

Trahan told his House colleagues that Gov. Bobby Jindal is “neutral” on the tuition increase legislation pushed by Louisiana’s higher education management boards. He added that Jindal said he would support the addition of funds to the state budget to cover the tuition increase for TOPS.

Asked if that was Jindal’s position, his press secretary, Melissa Sellers, replied “yes” via an e-mail.

The potential annual tuition increases would range from 3 to 5 percent depending on how far behind they are from their Southern peers. The tuition increase would affect all public two- and four-year colleges.

For instance, LSU would be in line for a 5 percent increase, amounting to $234 a year, starting this fall. The current charge is about $4,700 in annual tuition and fees.