Massive budget cuts in Louisiana and Oregon seriously threaten education

NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA - Carol Forsloff - Oregon voted to raise its taxes;
Louisiana didn't, but they both have serious budget shortfalls that  threaten education as announcements were made this week.


It's a tough time for Oregon as it faces a downturn in state money.  The state economist reported a $378 million shortfall in the budget for the next two years.

In
Louisiana, education is crying the blues as many university programs
have been axed.  Many of the cuts to the University system are hurting
Natchitoches, a small town in the northwest section of the state, that
has relied on Northwestern University as one of its major employers.

Professors
losing jobs in Natchitoches have sold or are selling their homes, some
of them leaving a town where they were born or have lived for decades.

Others are looking for jobs, as new cuts have just been announced.

The
journalism department, once upheld by the University as one of its show
dogs in Natchitoches, will be absorbed into the English Department, so
students can complete their curriculum.  On the other hand, the
department itself is one of those facing the axe.

In Oregon, the
announcement of the shortfall came even after another report from
Oregon's Governor Ted Kulongoski told Oregonians that this year's budget
is in the red $577 million, which is bringing cuts to programs in a
variety of areas in the state at about 9%.

New tax revenues voted on seven months ago haven't been enough to stop Oregon's bleeding, Stateline reports.

In Baton Rouge the struggle is the same, but in this case there hasn't been a tax increase on individual income or property.

Oregon's
administrative leadership, however, reports federal money will help
fill in much of the gap, as the corporate income in the state has been
better than hoped, using the "kicker" law.  This law promotes the
development of new business.

Both Oregon and Louisiana, however,
have the worries about education, the backbone of future government and
economy, with citizens worried about what might happen next.

"State
economists predicted when the 2009 Legislature closed its session that
corporate income taxes would come to $832 million," The (Eugene) Register-Guard reported.
"But with profits on the rise, that figure is now up to $874 million —
enough for Oregon’s kicker law to trigger a $42.3 million tax credit to
corporations if the latest projections hold up."