- Legislation Recommended via the BoR Response to Act 619
Ø Act 44 (SB 71 by Donahue) Sets TOPS awards to the amount of tuition charged at each institution during the 2016-17 academic year.
Ø Act 293 (HB 113 by Broadwater) Extends the sunset of the public postsecondary boards’ authority to establish student fees to the 2020 academic year.
- Bills Impacting Higher Education
Ø Act 204 (HB 178 by Simon) Provides that certain educator provider programs are not proprietary schools and thus not subject to licensing by BoR.
Ø Act 240 (SB 90 by Erdey) Sets parameters on scholarships for children of certain law enforcement officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
Ø Act 250 (SB 190 by Thompson) Provides that students found not to be college ready shall be given the opportunity to take college transition courses in high school beginning in the 2019 school year.
Ø Act 276 (HB 688 by Pierre) Prohibits an institution from inquiring about a prospective student’s criminal history, except for specified offenses, prior to acceptance for admission.
Ø Act 291 (SB 145 by Claitor) Provides relative to Tulane Legislative Scholarships.
Ø Act 321 (SB 106 W. Bishop) Requires the MGT boards, in conjunction with the Commissioner, to develop and implement an action plan to address the prevention of unplanned pregnancies.
Ø Act 392 (SB 225 Hewitt) Creates the LaSTEM Advisory Council chaired by the Commissioner; provides for duties & functions; and creates a fund.
Ø Act 379 (SB 102 Johns) Creates the Louisiana Educational Workforce Training Fund, subject to an annual appropriation to the LCTCS, for short-term, high-demand workforce programs at public 2-year institutions.
- Resolutions
Ø HCR 89 (Stokes) Requests the BoR and the UL and SU Board of Supervisors jointly study the possibility of revising the reclassification and admission standards for UNO and SUNO.
Ø HSR 2 (Landry) Requests the House Committee on Education examine issues related to postsecondary education services for current and former foster youth.
Ø SCR 99 (Cortez) Creates the LA Supply Chain & Transportation Council.
Ø SCR 110 (Morrish) Creates a task force to study TOPS, including a review of the program’s purpose and history, the role of the program in relation to tuition and fees, and other institutional, state, and federal financial assistance programs, and ways to ensure the program’s long-term viability.
Ø SCR 117 (Walsworth) Creates the Louisiana Historical Archives Task Force to study the conditions, needs, issues, and problems relative to the preservation of precious print, visual, audio, and digital historical records.
- Vetoed Bills
Ø HB 133 (Edmonds) Requires each management board to develop a centralization plan and a cooperative unification plan and submit them to the legislature every four years. (veto message)
Ø HB 269 (L. Harris) Provides for the free expression policies on college campuses. (veto message)
Ø HB568 (N. Landry) Provides relative to the collection and sharing of certain student information