BATON ROUGE, La. — Lawmakers advanced proposals Wednesday to let public colleges raise their own tuition and fee rates, hoping to help campuses threatened with hefty budget cuts from the state.

The House and Senate education committees approved without objection several bills that would remove the Louisiana Legislature from setting tuition and fees, leaving those decisions instead to the college system management boards.

Higher education leaders are pushing the legislation to help them fill budget gaps from state cuts. Debates in both committees centered on the schools’ financial woes.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget proposal includes a mix of cuts and uncertain financing for higher education in the fiscal year that begins July 1, to help close a $1.6 billion budget shortfall. In the worst-case scenario, colleges face a reduction of up to $600 million next year that would strip 80 percent of college systems’ state financing.