HOPE cuts hit bump
in House
Democrats
doubt reductions needed
By JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/19/04
The move to
change Georgia's HOPE scholarship slowed Thursday as House Democratic leaders
began raising new questions about the need to eliminate book and fee payments to
Georgia scholars.
Speaker
Pro Tem Dubose Porter (D-Dublin) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Calvin
Smyre (D-Columbus) expressed concerns about proposed legislation that, starting
this fall, would eliminate book and fee payments as part of the HOPE
scholarship. The move, opposed by Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, would cost
HOPE scholars at some Georgia universities more than $1,000 a
year.
The House and Senate Higher Education committees met on the
HOPE proposals Thursday, but neither panel voted out the plans. The comments
from Porter, who sponsored the legislation that created HOPE, and Smyre indicate
that the leadership of the Democratic-led House might not agree with the
legislation.
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue already has eliminated
book and fee payments from his budget proposal for fiscal 2005, which begins
July 1, which would mean that HOPE scholars would not get that money in the
fall. The governor did so in anticipation that legislators would agree to the
HOPE bill.
If lawmakers approve his budget but pass no HOPE
legislation, Perdue could carry the blame for cutting the book and fee
money.
"I am not ready to concede on books and fees," said Smyre, a
member of the House Higher Education Committee. "The governor may be pushing the
envelope on this in his budget. I'm not sure if this is good policy or bad
policy."
Porter, also a member of the committee, asked, "Why would
we hurry to restrict something that is part of the most successful program of
its kind in the country? We don't want to do anything so aggressive that we
restrict access to higher education."
At a minimum, Porter said, he
wants analysts to look at how much it would cost to continue paying schoolbook
and fee money to low-income HOPE scholars. About one-third of HOPE recipients
also are eligible for federal Pell grants, based on their family income, state
officials say.
Under HOPE, Georgia high school students with a B or
better average may receive full tuition, along with a book allowance and money
for mandatory fees, to attend a Georgia public college. HOPE scholarships are
funded by the state lottery.
Spending on the program has soared, in
large part because more students are becoming eligible every year, college
enrollment is growing and tuition and fees have risen. As a result, state
officials have estimated that expenses for HOPE and pre-kindergarten classes —
the state's other lottery-funded program — might exceed revenue to pay for them
in a year or so unless changes are made.
Bills introduced in the
House and Senate, and supported by Perdue, include provisions to eliminate the
book and fee money from HOPE. The bills also would make a minimum 3.0
grade-point average a requirement for HOPE, a tougher standard than the current
numeric equivalent used to determine a qualifying B average.
In
addition, the Student Finance Commission would check the grades of HOPE college
students sooner to make sure they are maintaining the required average. That
change could cause poorly performing students to lose their scholarships
faster.
Porter questioned some of the numbers used by a task force
to help develop the legislation. For example, he said, they projected an
increase in HOPE scholars of more than 11 percent a year through the end of the
decade.
Taylor previously criticized the projections because they
predicted no growth in lottery sales. Lottery sales have increased in nine of
the past 10 years.
Senate Higher Education Chairman Bill Hamrick
(R-Carrollton) said he didn't expect it would be easy to get a HOPE bill
through, considering the popularity of the program.
"We're just
trying to get to the point where everybody is comfortable with whatever
legislation we need to pass to protect HOPE," Hamrick
said.