Promise Scholarship eliminated in proposed budget

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The Michigan Promise Scholarship and $60 million in financial aid could be axed from the state budget if recommendations made in a legislative committee Wednesday are adopted by officials working to meet an Oct. 1 deadline.

The scholarship, which provides about 96,000 Michigan college students with up to $4,000 each, was not included in a plan released by the state’s higher education conference committee. This plan was passed 4-2 and would save the state $140 million.

State legislators are hammering out a budget agreement to send to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for approval by Oct. 1. Their aim is to trim $200 million from the higher education budget. The overall budget is about $40 billion and faces a $2.7 billion shortfall.

State Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, who was the head of the conference committee, voted against the cuts and said she hopes the final budget will not pass the House.

“This is absolutely unacceptable to go back on our promise and not fund the promise grant,” she said. “In order to really turn our state around in the future, we should not be cutting financial aid that makes an education more accessible and affordable.”

Those in favor of the cuts said there was no other way to balance the state budget. Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, said the constraints stemming from federal stimulus funding make it hard for the scholarship to survive.

“In order to get (stimulus funds), you could cut in certain places. So that left the only places to make the cuts in scholarships, and that is why the (Michigan Promise Scholarship) got eliminated,” George said. “Maybe we would’ve done it different, but the strings attached with the federal stimulus money, we couldn’t cut that much.”

Cuts to financial aid include funding to graduate students, private colleges and the Michigan Competitive Scholarship. The cuts also include grants for nurses and work-study programs.

“If you look at other budgets, you will see the higher (education) budget wasn’t singled out,” George said.

The plan now is part of the Legislature’s final budget, which will be submitted to Granholm in the coming days or weeks. The scholarship and cuts to financial aid face a grim future, as turning them down would mean turning down the Legislature’s entire budget, sending officials back to the drawing board.

Rejecting the budget could lead to a statewide shutdown, said Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester.

“It’s not pleasant to have to pull the (Michigan Promise Scholarship), but the fact of the matter is the state is broke and we don’t have any way to pay for it,” he said.

Without funding for the scholarship, state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said he would not vote in favor of the budget.

“It was a promise,” he said. “Without the (Michigan) Promise Scholarship, I am not comfortable voting for the budget.”

Also sent forward Wednesday was a recommendation for the Michigan State Police to occupy a new headquarters in Lansing.

The new building, located along Grand River Avenue, costs $409,000 for a one-month lease. The state police have been renting their current headquarters along Harrison Road from MSU for $1 per year.

“At a time when everything is getting cut, when K-12, revenue sharing, public safety is getting cut, there is absolutely no reason to buy a new building we don’t need,” said state Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.

Joel Ferguson, the new building’s developer and an MSU Board of Trustees member, said he wasn’t surprised the lease was passed.

“It makes sense — it’s a great building,” he said.

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