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Louisiana's billion-dollar budget shortfall could mean an 80 percent cut to TOPS

Source: nola.com - Jan 18, 2018

Louisiana legislators and higher education leaders have been told that the state budget proposal that will be presented Monday (Jan. 22) will likely include a 80 percent reduction in funding for the TOPS college scholarship program for the 2018-2019 school year. That type of cut would affect incoming freshmen and students already enrolled in college that use TOPS to pay for school.

Gov. John Bel Edwards is having to include massive reductions to several government programs in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year because more than a billion dollars in temporary state taxes are set to expire July 1. Without some replacement taxes, Louisiana will have to cutback on several discretionary programs, including TOPS.

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Category: General Business