State leaders have told public colleges and universities to brace for up to $250 million in cuts next year because of a massive budget shortfall. Higher education leaders have said the cuts could reduce scholarships and academic programs and cause layoffs for faculty. Kennedy Orr, student government association president at Southern University, and elected student representative on the state Board of Regents, sat down with The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Marie Fazio to discuss the impact of these potential cuts:
I try to explain to them that when these budget cuts happen, it affects scholarships and financial aid. It affects where you’re going to be able to lay your head. (It affects) how many classes you’re going to be able to take in the semester, how many classes are being offered. Because you’re cutting salaries, and professors are not going to want to teach. … If you want to keep people in this state, you have to invest in education because if they’re not going to college here, they’re not going to work here. I think these budget cuts are just the start of breaking the foundation of keeping Louisiana residents. It’s almost like you’re holding the door open and saying, “You can leave.”
The House Appropriations Committee is meeting on Friday to discuss the impact of budget cuts on higher education and other state departments.
Investments in early ed benefits workers too
Every dollar spent on programs that provide free, full-time day care for preschoolers generates $6 in economic benefits, according to a groundbreaking study from Yale and Brown universities. The researchers analyzed a universal kindergarten program in New Haven, Conn, which is allocated on a lottery system because of limited availability. The huge economic returns were due to parents, who won a coveted slot, having the ability to access child care and work more. The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell reports:
On average, lottery-winning families had 11 more hours of child care per week than those who didn’t. This was enough to raise parents’ earnings by about 20 percent each year — not just while their children were in pre-K but for at least six years afterward. This enduring effect appears related to the benefits of job continuity. Prior research has found that career disruptions can permanently lower a worker’s pay trajectory. (Interestingly, New Haven mothers and fathers saw similar long-term earnings increases, in percentage terms.)
New Mexico is providing free child care to most families by drawing on state trust funds made up primarily of oil and gas revenue. Louisiana, a major oil and gas producer, recently cut support for early childhood education.
The case is clear for expanding the Child Tax Credit
Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are deeply divided on a range of issues. But both campaigns are proposing to make the federal Child Tax Credit more generous – though their plans differ greatly from each other. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Jon Whiten explains how the latest U.S. Census data shows the effectiveness of the credit at reducing poverty:
After the temporary CTC expansion cut child poverty in half in 2021 (the largest drop ever recorded), we have essentially lost those dramatic gains made in the fight against child poverty. … From 2021 to 2023, poverty has risen from 7.8 to 12.9 percent, and more than doubled from 5.2 to 13.7 percent for children.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Kris Cox explains why the Child Tax Credit should be a top priority in a looming federal tax fight.
Policymakers in both parties should make expanding the Child Tax Credit a priority in the 2025 tax debate. At minimum they should reinstate the Rescue Plan changes, which would provide an income boost to more than 60 million children in total, including the 19 million children in families with the lowest incomes. Expanding the Child Tax Credit is a proven solution for lifting millions of children above the poverty line and helping to ensure that all children have the resources they need to thrive.
Note: Approximately 61,000 low-income children in Louisiana would be lifted above the poverty line if the enhanced version of the Child Tax Credit included in the American Rescue Plan Act was reinstated.
How Tennessee shrunk its public-private sector pay gap
State and local government employees earned 17.6% less on average than their similarly educated counterparts in the private sector from 2020 to 2024. The pay gap before the pandemic was only 13.9%. Route Fifty’s Molly Bloom explains how Tennessee shrunk its pay gap for state workers through legislatives changes that focused on performance rather than seniority:
Tennessee didn’t just hand out raises across the board. Instead, the state worked with consultants to figure out private-sector pay for key roles, adjusted state pay ranges accordingly and then figured out how existing employees fit into those pay bands based on their skills and performance. All told, the state spent $115 million in the first year for the pay increases and less than $2 million for consulting and project management services. Although no employee saw a pay decrease as a result of the changes, not everyone has been happy. Some less-experienced employees now earn close to, or more than, those with more years on the job.
Number of the Day
13.2% – Real wage growth for low-wage workers from 2019-2023. The lowest-wage workers had the strongest wage growth during the pandemic. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)