Governor John Bel Edwards says TOPS students will not get a tuition bill this semester, despite money troubles with the popular taxpayer funded program. Edwards says if the state is unable to pay a TOPS recipient’s tuition, colleges will absorb those costs…
cut 14 (06) “…current semester”
Edwards says not enough money was appropriated for the TOPS program this year. He says they are about 28-million dollars short.

The governor has also told Louisiana that unless some taxes are raised, the budget cuts to colleges could be so severe that it could lead to no college football next fall. Political analyst Clancy Dubos says that would be a doomsday scenario, but other governors, used similar tactics like this to raise revenue…
cut 8 (08) “….kidney machines”
A special legislative session to address the state’s budget begins Sunday.

The Louisiana chapter for the Americans for Prosperity is one of many organizations in the state that opposes higher taxes as the solution to the state’s budget crisis….
cut 11 (10) “…for us”
That’s A-F-P state director Phillip Joffrion, who says they’ve released a poll that shows about eight out of every 10 Louisiana residents oppose an increase in sales and personal income taxes.

For the second straight year, Lawrence and Varrie Player of Benton has been recognized as the state’s longest known married couple. The Players have been married for 81 years and Louisiana Family Forum President Gene Mills says this couple is a model for Louisiana families…
cut 13 (11) “….self”
Several couples who have been married for 70-plus years are being honored at the governor’s mansion today.