Tell your senator to vote "YES" on SB 335!

Bill would raise $118 million to save higher education

Temporary suspension of tax deduction would offset drastic cuts.

Please ask your senator to vote YES when SB 335 by Sen. Lydia Jackson comes up.

The bill, approved by the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee, would temporarily suspend a portion of a tax deduction for excess federal itemized personal deductions.

That sounds confusing. What it means is that a tax deduction would stay at its current 65% level for three years, instead of increasing to 100%. The result would be a $118 million revenue stream that would offset some of the $200 million slated to be slashed from our universities, colleges and technical schools.

This is not a new tax. It is a temporary suspension of a deduction that has not yet gone into effect.

Without the revenue, our higher education institutions face drastic cuts that will erase the gains made in recent years.

Our leaders have made some poor choices over the past few years, choices that have made the current fiscal downturn worse than it could have been. Senate Bill 335 is an opportunity to make a right choice for higher education and for the future of our state. Please click on the link and ask senators to vote YES on SB 335.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Louisiana's colleges and universities are the best hope we have for a better future, but the $200+ million budget cut planned for higher education will be devastating to our state.

There is only one piece of legislation up for consideration that could help plug that budget hole this year: SB 335 by Sen. Lydia Jackson.

Passing the bill will not mean new taxes - just a temporary suspension of a deduction that has not yet gone into effect.

The $118 million it will raise could save our universities and colleges - and perhaps the state itself - from disaster.

When you have the opportunity, please vote FOR SB 335.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 25, 2009