2 houses keep fees,
tuition in HOPE bills
By JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/15/04
The House and
Senate have not agreed on much this session, but both chambers approved bills
Monday guaranteeing that HOPE scholars will continue getting tuition, book and
fee money this fall.
With
the 2004 session nearing an end, little has passed both chambers. Even the bills
approved by the House and Senate Monday to preserve the HOPE scholarship contain
differences that will have to be worked out before the session
ends.
However, Monday's votes were a major step forward for
legislation that seemed stalled in election-year politics despite concerns that
HOPE eventually could run low on money.
"The HOPE scholarship is
fine, the revenues are fine through the end of the decade," Speaker Pro Tem
DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) said.
However, some Republicans in the
House were not so sure that lawmakers might not have to return to the issue to
make cuts in the near future.
"We're putting off the inevitable,"
Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) said.
Under HOPE, Georgia high
school students with a B average or higher may receive full tuition along with
mandatory fees and a book allowance to attend a public college in Georgia. HOPE
scholarships are funded by the lottery.
Changes in HOPE are being
considered because state analysts project that the program, which is funded by
the lottery, will begin eating into reserves in a few years. The number of HOPE
scholars — those who attain and maintain at least a B average — and the cost of
tuition, fees and books are expected to rise faster than lottery
revenues.
However, some Democrats have questioned the need to make
major changes this year. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor notes that lottery sales have been
up every year but one in the past decade. They rose 5 percent during the first
six months of fiscal 2004, which ends June 30.
"I don't want to see
widespread panic created over something that might not be out there," Sen.
Michael S. Meyer Von Bremen (D-Albany) said.
Standard
toughened
Both the bill that passed the House 168-1 and the
Senate legislation, approved 33-23, would make a minimum 3.0 grade-point average
a requirement for the scholarship, a tougher standard than the current numeric
equivalent used to determine a qualifying average of B or
better.
Further, the Student Finance Commission would check the
grades of HOPE college students sooner, to make sure they were maintaining the
required average. That change could cause poorly performing students to lose
scholarships faster.
A study commission recommended that lawmakers
eliminate the book and fee payments to HOPE scholars starting this fall, a move
that would add more than $1,000 to the cost of schooling for many of the
students.
The House bill would cap book and fee payments starting
this year. It also would allow the state to trim book payments to HOPE scholars
if the program's year-end balance begins to fall. Students from lower-income
families who receive the federal Pell Grant would not lose book payments,
regardless of the year-end balance.
Under the Senate bill, no
changes would be made in fee and book payments until the program's year-end
balance drops. State analysts project that that will happen in fiscal 2006,
which begins July 1, 2005.
The next year, fee payments, which top
$1,000 a year at some universities, would be capped at $500. The second year it
happens, fee payments would be eliminated. The third year, HOPE scholars no
longer would receive money for books.
Perdue cut
restored
Perdue already has cut $125 million from next year's
HOPE budget in anticipation that the payments for some books and fees would be
cut by lawmakers. The House on Monday approved a fiscal 2005 budget that
rescinds that cut.
Some Democrats criticized the move to limit HOPE
money in the future. "This drives home the point that the people who have joined
the General Assembly over the last 10 years are out of touch with the needs of
the working class," Taylor said. But Sen. Mike Crotts (R-Conyers) said the
Senate tried to "ensure we are going to have money for the HOPE scholarship down
the line."
Staff writers Sonji Jacobs and Ernie Suggs
contributed to this article.