Louisiana lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to divert state savings to a new fund to fix a lengthy list of crumbling infrastructure on state college and university campuses.
The Legislature approved House Bill 940 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which would provide money for maintenance work without going through the annual state construction budget. The bill cleared both chambers Friday unanimously.
Presently, each university system gets a few million dollars each year to address these deferred maintenance projects, far from enough to keep up with new projects added to the list each year. In total, there are approximately $2 billion worth of repairs needed at public colleges and universities in the state.
Turner said higher education leaders have asked instead for a set amount of money annually, which they could then decide how to spend themselves. This would prevent long-needed maintenance projects from filling up House Bill 2, the state construction budget, he said.
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Lawmakers are considering using some money that would typically go into a state savings account to set up the College and University Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Fund. About $70 million destined for the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund will be diverted to the new fund, Senate President Cameron Henry said. The Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund currently has about $2.3 billion in it.
The nearly $2 billion deferred maintenance backlog presents a considerable problem on university campuses. Poor infrastructure manifests in Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues, leaky libraries, disruptions in laboratories and myriad problems that impact student life, working conditions and faculty research.
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Turner’s bill sets up a 10-year program through which the Legislature could appropriate up to $2 billion dollars, approximately equal to deferred maintenance costs for all four state higher education systems, excluding those at university hospitals that could be paid for with federal dollars.
Of that amount, the Southern University System would be allocated $153 million, the Louisiana Community and Technical College System would get $253 million, the University of Louisiana System would receive $523 million, and $1.07 billion would be set aside for the LSU System.
Turner also wants to use funds from the state’s 1998 settlement with tobacco companies, though it would take a constitutional change to do so because the money is currently set aside for other purposes. If a constitutional convention or a special session on constitutional amendments isn’t convened this year, Turner said he would consider filing a constitutional amendment next year to access the tobacco funds, which could yield up to $98 million annually, a spokesperson for the state Treasury said. Further funds could also be borrowed.
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Turner said he hoped the fund could clear deferred maintenance backlogs within seven to 10 years.
Addressing the deferred maintenance backlog is an important tool for recruiting and retaining students, he said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Lufkin Resident Agency in Lufkin, Texas, is seeking to identify potential victims of Matthew “Matt” Jess Thrash the agency said in a press release Tuesday night.
Thrash was recently indicted in the Eastern District of Texas on federal wire fraud and money laundering violations.
The FBI believes he primarily targeted individuals between 2012 and 2024 through several fraudulent investment schemes. These schemes included establishing a fake sports management company, a fake sports memorabilia store, and fraudulent stock sales in cannabis dispensaries. It is believed that Thrash targeted individuals in Las Vegas, NV; Shreveport, LA; Lake Charles, LA; Tampa, FL, and throughout Texas.
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If someone is a victim of Thrash or has information relevant to this investigation and has not spoken with law enforcement in Lufkin, Texas, they can complete and submit this short form at https://www.fbi.gov.
“Mr. Thrash used and employed various fraudulent schemes to obtain money from others. A critical component of his schemes was presenting himself as a successful businessman with lucrative investment opportunities. Individuals should not be embarrassed if they invested in one of his schemes. We encourage you to come forward so that you can receive assistance and help us hold him accountable in a court of law,” said FBI Dallas Acting Special Agent in Charge P. J. O’Brien.
If you know of someone who Thrash has victimized, please encourage them to complete and submit the form on the webpage.
The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Criminal charges are merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
You can add the Council for a Better Louisiana to the groups hailing the tax reform package. CABL President Barry Erwin said the lowering of personal and corporate income taxes and the elimination of the franchise tax will make Louisiana a better place to live and to do business.
“All these things kind of help improve our competitiveness and I think send a message that Louisiana is trying to do some things that we can where we can to improve the environment for businesses and for people.”
Erwin said he hopes that the new tax structure will encourage people to consider moving to Louisiana.
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“We need to do some things that send messages about what we’re doing, how we’re trying to improve ourselves, how we’re trying to make life better in our state, and I think this is one thing that does it.”
Erwin, however, said it’s unfortunate that sales taxes, which are already among the highest in the nation, are increasing even further, with the state rate going up to five-percent as of January 1st.
“I think a lot of people feel more comfortable in some ways with a sales tax than an income tax, but I think we can’t lose track that the highest in the country is not a great place to be, and it hurts our poorest citizens the most.”
BATON ROUGE – Ahead of the holiday shopping season, new technology is being used at shopping centers across Baton Rouge to track and combat crime.
License plate readers have been popping up all around the city, along the interstate, and now at the Mall of Louisiana due to the Page-Rice public safety initiative. So far, more than 100 cameras and license plate readers have been installed.
Clay Young is with the Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Foundation (LECJF), a group partnering with law enforcement to put up the license plate readers. He says the cameras can be pricey, ranging from $2,800 to $5,000 depending on the type of tech, and it’s up to law enforcement to decide where the cameras are most effective and monitor them.
“Hopefully, nothing happens. But if something does, we want to expedite justice as fast as possible,” Young said.
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Earlier this year, law enforcement used license plate readers to track down the stolen car of a man who was murdered and dumped alongside a Tangipahoa Parish highway. TikTok personality Mr. Prada, whose legal name is Terryon Thomas, was identified as the person driving the car and he was arrested in the murder.
The cameras are also being used on the interstate to track shootings, where one has happened as recently as Sunday on Interstate 110.
“This time of the year, a lot of people are shopping, and kids are moving around,” Young said. “We just wanted to lend some assistance to law enforcement to make certain that they can keep eyes on everything.”
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