Louisiana Voters Consider the 1st Amendment for the TOPS Scholarship Funding

Louisiana voters will have to consider, this month, whether millions should be spent on the TOPS scholarships (in the 1^st Amendment). If it is approved, the tax would be $0.04 on a pack of cigarettes. The tax on cigarettes creates $12 million a year. Students at the University of New Orleans use the TOPS scholarship to go to school. For example, a student at UNO, Mark Granier, said, “It pays my tuition and a good bit of my dorm.” The picture shows students that are coming together to protest for the TOPS scholarship (which is the Grassroots Pathway of Action).

Senator John Alario argues that Louisiana is near the bottom of the scale when it comes to the number of people graduating, and the tax will allow more students to go to school. This will lead to more people graduating. The argument on the opposing side is that the tax will take $40 million dollars from the Millennium Trust fund. Alario argued that once the fund gets over $1.3 billion it will go to TOPS. The tax was added in the 1^st amendment when Governor Bobby Jindal voted for a renewal for the tax because it was about to expire the next year. The decision has not been made on this argument, but it will be decided on October 22.

This is based off the article: http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Voters-to-consider-constitutional-amendment-for/Arm_vvh74k-h82QufoxuNQ.cspx