Amid Cash Crunch, Gov. Edwards Slows Community College Buildings

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A building boom planned to expand and improve Louisiana's  community college campuses is being put on hold by Gov. John Bel Edwards, amid a tightening of state construction spending.

More than half the projects on the $280 million list for the Louisiana  Community and Technical College System won't be completed for now. Instead, they'll be stalled for an unknown period while the state digs out of its budget troubles.

Edwards wants to steer the state's limited construction money mainly to roadwork and a backlog of deferred maintenance on state buildings.

LCTCS President Monty Sullivan said of 29 new construction projects planned for his college system, 10 are either complete or under way. He told lawmakers the other projects won't proceed for now. He described the stalling as "a real concern."

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