Story by Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's public colleges have been asked to prepare for cuts totaling as much as $131 million across campuses in the next five months, in case lawmakers and the governor don't agree on ways to raise revenue to fill a deep budget gap.
LSU System President F. King Alexander released the letter in an online posting Friday and described it in an email to university system employees. Alexander said LSU's statewide operations would take a $65 million hit under the scenario. He said that type of reduction could force hundreds of employee layoffs, large reductions to medical services at LSU facilities and closures of agriculture extension services.