Jindal Discusses Budget With College Leaders

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal sat down with college leaders to discuss next year's budget shortfall, after receiving criticism he's focused too much time on his book and not enough on the state's financial troubles.

Among the ideas offered, higher education officials recommended that students pay higher fees to help offset some of the budget cuts, and Jindal says he'll consider the proposal.

Jindal's meeting Tuesday with the presidents of the state's four university systems is the first of several gatherings the governor has planned with "stakeholders" in the budget discussion.

College leaders called the meeting productive and say it was a way to find common ground on ideas to lessen cuts, with the state facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall next year.

The governor's stakeholder meetings come amid complaints that Jindal has focused too much on out-of-state campaigning and promotion of his book.