Dive Brief:
- While other states, including Illinois and Louisiana, still have cuts on the table for higher education, Wisconsin could see the biggest reductions.
- The Journal Sentinel reports the legislature is still considering $300 million in cuts over two years even though polls show residents do not support the reductions.
- In Illinois and Louisiana, where major cuts have also been proposed, legislators have already found or committed to finding money for higher education, largely through tax increases.
Dive Insight:
At the beginning of the budget season, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal proposed the most severe budget cuts. Jindal recommended a spending reduction of nearly $400 million in what critics called a dismantling of the higher education system in that state. The legislature trimmed the cut to a relatively paltry $40 million through a host of revenue-generating measures earlier in May.