Not Yet A Member? Join today to get instant access to exclusive content—before it hits the web.
(PDF Version)Â Â Two of the recent recommendations by the Post-Secondary Education Review Commission (PERC) offer conflicting advice regarding higher education governance. One would strengthen the authority of the Board of Regents (BoR) specifically as recommended by the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) in a 2009 report. The other would merge the BoR with three of the […]
Legislative committees responsible for redrawing voting districts have announced plans to invoke an exception to Louisiana’s open meetings law and hold a two-day, closed meeting to receive information relative to the law and history of redistricting. Given the significance of the 2010 redistricting cycle for Louisiana and the potential for major shifts of power nationally […]
In a 2006 commentary on the legislative session, PAR stated that comprehensive structural reform for higher education had been ignored and that Louisiana operates an excessive number of higher education institutions haphazardly arranged under four independent governing boards. Last week, state Treasurer John Kennedy cited that 2006 commentary in a statement implying that PAR supports […]
As part of the governor’s ethics reform package in 2008, substantial changes were made to the process of prosecuting and judging those who violate the state’s ethics code. One unsettling change was the transfer of adjudicatory power from the Board of Ethics to civil service administrative law judges. The ethics board detailed its concerns about […]
Two bills introduced this session, which would have opened most of the governor’s records to the public, are all but dead due to strong opposition from the administration. Instead, the administration supports SB 278, which purports to move Louisiana forward in executive branch transparency but would actually deliver a devastating blow to open government. SB […]
The state budget bill that was sent to the governor yesterday relies on passage of two separate bills to minimize reductions to higher education funding. However, both the House leadership and the governor oppose those revenue solutions that would tap the rainy day fund and freeze the income tax break for excess itemized deductions. Their […]
Currently, an eighth-grade student in Louisiana must score at least at the Basic level in either English/Language Arts or Mathematics on the LEAP test and at the Approaching Basic level in the other area to be promoted to the ninth grade. Two bills being considered by the Legislature would lower that standard for overage eighth-graders. […]