ISAC State Legislative Update

Katharine Gricevich
Director of State Relations
August 29, 2008

With legislators in their home districts and at their parties’ nominating conventions during the summer, the fate of bills that were passed this spring has been in the governor’s hands.  A number of bill-signings and vetoes have taken place.

In addition to the fiscal year 2009 budget, effective on July 10th, three of the bills summarized in ISAC State Legislative Updates have now become public acts.  They include a directive for ISAC to study high-achieving students’ admission at Illinois public universities, an extension of in-state tuition rates to certain military personnel stationed outside of Illinois and their dependents, and a boost in the highest award that may be made available through the Monetary Award Program.  More information about these new laws can be found in the “Public Acts” section below.

As reported in prior Updates, all ISAC-administered scholarship and grant programs are operating at funding levels identical to those of fiscal year 2008.  A proposed $18 million increase that legislators had authorized to incorporate FY2005 tuition and fees into the MAP formula or adjust the MAP award size was vetoed from the current year’s (FY09) budget

For the most up-to-date information on the legislation discussed below and for the full text of bills, please refer to the General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service, which maintains records of legislative activity online at http://www.ilga.gov/.  Questions about state legislative activities may also be directed to Trena Sabo at 217.782.6920 or tsabo@isac.org or to Katharine Gricevich at 217.785.9278 or kgricevich@isac.org. 

Public Acts (Bills that are now law)

HB 4567 (Brady/Holmes) – This bill requires ISAC to conduct a study on the college application and admissions patterns of students who are designated by the agency as Illinois State Scholars for their academic achievement in high school.  Specifically, agency staff must collect data for 2008 and 2009 regarding (1) the number of students designated State Scholars, (2) the number of State Scholars who applied to state universities, and (3) the number of State Scholars who were denied admittance into the State universities to which they applied.  In addition to submitting a report to the General Assembly concerning the findings of the study, the Commission must make recommendations on how to make state universities more accessible to State Scholars.

The sponsors of the bill hope to learn more about why many high-achieving students leave the state to pursue a postsecondary degree.  About 17,000 State Scholars were named last year.  These students represent approximately the top 10% of the state's graduating high school class in any given year, based on standardized test scores, grades, and class rank (where applicable) at the end of the junior year.
Passed House 115-0-0. 
Passed Senate 56-0-0. 
P.A. 95-0760.

HB 5701 (Hannig/Trotter) – HB 5701 is one of four bills that make up the General Assembly’s total FY09 budget.  This bill authorizes FY09 spending for a number of state agencies and offices, including ISAC and other higher education entities.  The governor issued reduction and total vetoes regarding this and the other approved budget bills (SBs 1102, 1115, and 1129) during the second week of July.  The House voted to override some vetoes related to human services and to operations of the Secretary of State’s office, but, citing a lack of new revenues to accompany the new spending authorization, the Senate did not consider the override motions.  Override motions to restore higher education funding that had been vetoed also failed. 

With respect to ISAC, HB 5701 provides for scholarship and grant programs to operate at the same funding levels that they did during FY08.  The bill that initially passed the General Assembly had also included an increase of $18 million in general revenue funds for the Monetary Award Program (MAP), but that increase was vetoed by the governor and not restored by the legislature.  ISAC estimated that the increase would have allowed the tuition and fees in the MAP formula to be updated by one year to incorporate FY05 costs while serving about the same number of students as in FY08.

The most notable measures affecting ISAC programs are the following:

• Approved funding for the Monetary Award Program is level to that approved for FY08.  This amounts to about $381.1 million in state funding for MAP.  The General Assembly also authorized spending of about $4.2 million in federal dollars for MAP.
• ISAC also received no increase in funding for the Illinois Veteran Grant, which is used to reimburse colleges and universities for waiving tuition and fees for Illinois veterans.  However, an additional lump sum of approximately $7.2 million was appropriated to the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) to cover some of the institutions' remaining costs.  This mirrors the appropriation for FY08.

Passed House 109-0-0.
Passed Senate as amended 35-20-0. 
House concurs with SAs #1 & 2   63-50-0. 
Governor’s veto message issued 7/10/08, some funding reduced or eliminated. 
P.A. 95-734. 

HB 5905 (Schock/Hultgren) – Military members (and their dependents) stationed in Illinois for active duty have been eligible for in-state tuition rates at public universities since 2004.  Beginning with the 2009-2010 academic year, HB 5905 also directs the public university governing boards to treat a military member as an Illinois resident for tuition purposes if he or she is reassigned to active military duty outside the state but lived in Illinois for at least three years immediately prior to the reassignment.  In those circumstances, his or her dependents will also be deemed Illinois residents for tuition purposes.  To qualify, the service member or dependent must (i) apply for admission to the university within 18 months of the person on active military duty being reassigned outside of Illinois or (ii) remain continuously enrolled at the university.
Passed House 115-0-0. 
Passed Senate 58-0-0. 
P.A. 95-0888.

SB 1908 (Maloney/Miller) - SB 1908 raises the statutory maximum grant for the Monetary Award Program (MAP).  The size of grants that ISAC may distribute through MAP is limited by the smallest of a student’s tuition and fee costs, his/her level of financial need, and this maximum, which was last raised in FY02.

From the current level of $4968, the bill lifts the statutory maximum to $5468 in FY09, $5968 in FY10, and $6468 in FY11.  The bill also stipulates that any increase in the size of the maximum award will be granted only if it is matched by an increase of the same percentage for MAP recipients not eligible for the maximum award.  Finally, the bill specifies that the maximum award will be increased only “subject to appropriation,” i.e., if the General Assembly allocates sufficient MAP funds to implement these changes.  Fully funding this change would require approximately $40 million in additional funding for MAP each year for the next three years. 

As noted by the bill’s sponsors during floor debate, if new funds for MAP were available, increasing the maximum award as proposed in SB 1908 is one of several possible ways to distribute the money.  Alternatives would include extending processing for MAP and updating the tuition and fee costs used in the MAP formula, which would enable many students to qualify for larger awards or to qualify for the first time.  (A $40 million increase would allow the use of current tuition and fees and in the MAP formula.)

The MAP formula used for the current (2008-09) academic year maintains a statutory maximum of $4968.  General information about the MAP formula is available in the FAA Zone of the ISAC Web site, collegezone.com, which also contains specific information about the formula for the current academic year.
Passed Senate as amended by SA #2 57-0-0. 
Passed House as amended by SA #2 114-0-0. 
P.A. 95-0917.

Sent to the Governor – Pending Action :

An early version of HB 1334 would have gradually phased out IFTC, with funds that would have gone to that state program instead being used to support Golden Apple.  Ultimately, the bill that passed provided for a somewhat less dramatic change.  As amended by Senate Amendment #5, the bill preserves both the IFTC program and state funding for Golden Apple.   Instead of eliminating IFTC, HB 1334 reserves 200 IFTC awards for participants in the Golden Apple Scholars program.  The Golden Apple Scholars will thereby receive larger awards ($5,000-$15,000 per person per year rather than the current $2500 per person per year), and the Golden Apple Foundation will be able to redirect funds currently used for stipends to provide participants with additional services. 
Passed Senate (as amended by SAs #1, 2, and 5)  51-0-0. 
House Concurred with SAs  #1, 2, and 5  115-0-0. 
Sent to the Governor.

HB 4156 (Franks) – Individuals who redeem their College Savings Bonds and use 70% of the proceeds for education within Illinois may apply to receive additional funds from the Bonus Incentive Grant (BIG) program, which was intended to help remove financial barriers to college access.  Under current ISAC rule, the bond beneficiary may apply for a bonus grant when he or she enrolls in school.  If the bonus is not awarded in that year due to insufficient state funding, the beneficiary may apply again the following year.  This bill would prohibit the Commission from imposing an “expiration date” on eligibility for the Bonus Incentive Grant, thereby allowing an applicant to apply each year, regardless of whether the beneficiary is still in school at the time.  The bill would also prohibit limits on the number of Illinois College Savings Bonds that an individual could purchase.  See also HB 4193 and HB 4790.
Bill tabled by sponsor.

HB 4193 (Franks/Althoff) – Individuals who redeem their College Savings Bonds and use 70% of the proceeds for education within Illinois may apply to receive additional funds from the Bonus Incentive Grant (BIG) program, which was intended to help remove financial barriers to college access.  Under current ISAC rule, the bond beneficiary may apply for a bonus grant when he or she enrolls in school.  If the bonus is not awarded in that year due to insufficient state funding, the beneficiary may apply again the following year.  This bill would prohibit the Commission from imposing an “expiration date” on eligibility for the Bonus Incentive Grant, thereby allowing an applicant to apply each year, regardless of whether the beneficiary is still in school at the time. See also HB 4156 and HB 4790.
Passed House 111-0-0. 
Senate Rules Committee.

HB 4213 (Arroyo) – This bill is a “shell bill,” a bill that is not intended to make a substantive change but which a sponsor files with the intent of amending.  This shell is intended to carry an amendment providing funding for the Child Welfare Student Loan Forgiveness Program, which ISAC would administer.
House Rules Committee.

HB 4528 In its original form, this bill would have established In God We Trust license plates, the fees from which would fund a new 21st Century Scholars program patterned after the Indiana program of the same name.  An amendment deleted provisions regarding license plates and instead would have instituted a new court fee for defendants granted probation and certain other court proceedings.  The scholarship program would require high school students to pledge to refrain from certain behaviors and graduate with at least a “C” average, in return for which they would receive a scholarship covering one year of enrollment at a community college.  Given only those parameters established in the bill, ISAC staff estimated that the program could cost $123 million in FY13 and more in each subsequent year.
Re-referred to House Rules Committee. 

HB 4606 (Patterson) – HB 4606 would allow use of the General Assembly Scholarship at “trade schools,” which are not defined by the bill.  However, the General Assembly Scholarship is not a funded program but rather a waiver granted by a public university at the direction of a General Assembly member.  If “trade school” were defined to include private institutions, the bill would raise questions about whether the state can compel private institutions to grant tuition waivers. 
Re-referred to House Rules Committee.

HB 4621 (W. Davis) – The bill would require public universities to accept any student who graduates within the top 10% of an Illinois high school’s graduating class and to offer that student any remediation he or she is determined to need.  In addition to restricting admissions offices’ discretion in filling a freshman class, the bill places no restrictions on where a student might enroll, so some campuses may not have enough seats to accommodate the students whom they may be required to admit under the bill.  The sponsor’s stated goal is to draw attention to disparities in quality among high schools—specifically, in how well they prepare their graduates for college.
Re-referred to House Rules Committee.

HB 4625 (Stephens) – Veterans who qualify for the current Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) program have their tuition and fees waived by public higher education institutions in Illinois.  This bill would add 50% of a veteran’s textbook costs to the existing entitlement.  ISAC staff estimate that this addition could add $5 million or more each year in costs statewide.  Notably, institutions are not fully reimbursed by the state for revenues that they forego under the current IVG program.  However, it is noteworthy that while the schools currently forego revenues on behalf of veterans, covering 50% of veterans’ textbook expenses could require them actually to pay out funds to a bookseller that may or may not be part of the institution itself.  The sponsor has stated that he does not intend to bring the bill for a vote by the full House chamber unless reimbursement levels are increased for the current IVG program.
House Higher Education Committee approves. 
Re-referred to House Rules Committee.

HB 4732 (Burke) - House Bill 4732 protects the State against abuses in Illinois’s 529 college savings and prepaid tuition plans by providing for “recapture,” i.e., the taxation of funds withdrawn from a 529 plan that are not used to pay for educational expenses.  As amended, the bill provides an exception for funds that are spent on non-qualified expenses because the beneficiary has died, been permanently disabled, or been granted a scholarship that covers his or her qualified educational expenses.  Also see SB 1995.
Passed House 84-20-0. 
Senate Rules Committee.

HB 4790 (May) – The original bill would have provided for $200 to be given to each participant in the College Illinois!SM Prepaid Tuition Program.  House Amendment #1 would delete and replace that language, instead requiring ISAC to prorate each year’s appropriation for Bonus Incentive Grants and allow eligibility for the grant to roll over indefinitely.  Also see HB 4156 and HB 4197.
House Higher Education Committee approves. 
Re-referred to House Rules Committee.

HB 4843 (Reis/Frerichs) – As amended, this bill would create a veterinary loan repayment program available to students at the University of Illinois, which shall administer the program.  The goal of the bill is to increase Illinois’s supply of large-animal veterinarians.  The availability of the loan repayment program would be subject to the annual appropriation of funds by the General Assembly.
House Agriculture & Conservation Committee approves. 
Passed House 109-0-1. 
Senate Rules Committee.

HB 5059 (Brosnahan/Holmes) – As amended in the House, HB 5059 would establish a new scholarship program administered by the Department of Public Health to be used for students in training to become nurse educators.  Like the existing Nurse Educator Scholarship Program administered by ISAC, this program would provide student financial assistance in exchange for a promise to work in Illinois as a nurse educator.  The bill also would increase (from $1.2m to $2m annually) the amount of funding set aside annually from the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund for nursing scholarships.

Senate Amendment #2 to HB 5059 would have clarified that the scholarships’ availability would be subject to appropriation of funds, and it removed language that excluded nursing programs from the Academic Degree Act.

For the bill to become law, the House would have needed to vote to concur with the Senate amendment.
Passed House as amended by HA #1  114-0-0. 
Passed Senate as amended by SA #2  58-0-0.  
Re-Referred to House Rules Committee.

HB 5109 (Miller/Maloney) – This bill would create the MAP Challenge Program, a pilot program modeled after Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program.  Subject to appropriation, the pilot would be developed jointly by ISAC, IBHE, ICCB, and ISBE.  The program would be required to include cooperation between school districts and State agencies in outreach and student services and to include minimum course requirements.  Students who successfully completed the program would be provided with an incentive in the form of State financial aid.  The intent of the proposal was to reduce high school drop-out rates, increase readiness for work and higher education, and improve college-going rates to reduce the financial burden on students and their families.  The pilot program is intended to accomplish these purposes by linking student financial aid and factors that may improve college readiness. 
Passed House 108-0-0. 
Senate Rules Committee.

HB 5542 (Brauer) – Subject to appropriation, the bill requires ISAC to create a pilot program of incentives for teachers and support staff (e.g., school counselors) to earn certification in behavioral analysis from the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, a national accrediting body.  The bill does not specify details for the mandated pilot program or the incentives that may be offered.  In 2007, an identical bill passed the House unanimously but was never called for a vote in the Senate.
Re-referred to House Rules Committee.

HJR 100 (Chapa La Via and All Members of the House) – This resolution would commission a bi-partisan task force on the status of underrepresented minorities in higher education to evaluate the status of traditionally underrepresented populations, specifically African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, in this State's public and private institutions of higher education.  The task force would include ISAC’s executive director or his designee.  For the resolution to take effect, it would have needed approval from the full House and full Senate.
House Higher Education Committee approves. 
Senate Rules Committee.

Additional Senate Bills Affecting ISAC (Did Not Pass Both Houses):

SB 1923 (Schoenberg/Currie) - This bill would establish a Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance Program administered by ISAC in cooperation with an advisory committee made up of lawyers and law school representatives.  Disbursement of awards would be in the form of forgivable loans. The program would be subject to appropriation of funds by the General Assembly. 

A House amendment changed references to advisory committee members from proper nouns to descriptive phrases, and it would have prohibited rule-making for the program without General Assembly approval.  Once the Senate failed to concur with the House amendment, the House would have had to officially recede from its amendment in order for the bill to become law.
Passed Senate 51-0-0. 
Passed House as amended by HA #1  110-1-0.
Senate sponsor filed motion of non-concurrence with HA #1.
Re-referred to House Rules Committee. 

SB 1981 (Clayborne/Mautino) - SB 1981 encourages the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to enlist employers in providing matching donations to their employees’ prepaid tuition plans, and it creates a new tax incentive for employers to do so.  The bill would allow Illinois employers to claim a tax credit, up to a maximum of $500, for one-fourth of the amount they contribute each year toward their employees’ College Illinois!SM prepaid tuition contracts or Bright Start college savings plans.  The credit sunsets in 2019.
Passed Senate 50-0-0. 
House Rules Committee. 

SB 1995 (Bond/Burke) – SB 1995 would include in an individual’s adjusted gross income any amounts that are withdrawn from a 529 college savings or prepaid tuition program for purposes other than education expenses.  Also see HB 4732.
Passed Senate 57-0-1. 
House Rules Committee.

SB 2030 (Collins) – This bill would appropriate $1 million to ISAC for the Child Welfare Student Loan Forgiveness Program, which exists in statute but has yet to receive funding.
Senate Rules Committee.

SB 2076 (Cullerton) - This bill would establish a Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance Program administered by ISAC in cooperation with an advisory committee made up of lawyers and law school representatives.  Disbursement of awards would be in the form of forgivable loans. The bill is subject to appropriation.  See also SB 1923.
Re-referred to Senate Rules Committee.

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