Barbara Flynn Currie.

6 October 2009

News from Springfield..................by State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25)

The budget Governor Quinn signed this summer appropriated a little more than $200 million to the state’s Monetary Award Program (MAP), the program that helps economically needy students pay for a college education. Because of a severe drop in projected revenues, the amount was less than half of last year’s spending.

The Governor chose to spend all the college aid money in the first semester of the academic year. The result? Some 140,000 students, at both public and private colleges, will be left in the lurch when the second semester begins in January.

I’m sure the Governor hoped that the prospect of such a cut would force lawmakers to work with him to find new revenues so as to avert the problem. It’s fair to say that a cut of this magnitude would be not only cruel but, in the long run, economically irresponsible. Aid recipients have no other place to turn if they want to continue their studies—they are, by definition, people who can’t foot the bill without help from the state. MAP grantees are disproportionately members of minority groups. How can we turn back the clock on minority gains in higher education? And, at a time when we worry how our state and country will compete in the global economy, a cut like this would be unconscionable.

The Governor had proposed a small income tax increase to make cuts like this unnecessary. I sponsored the Governor’s bill but, unfortunately, there were not enough votes in the spring and there are not enough votes today to pass the measure: not a single Republican lawmaker in either the House or the Senate has come on board. A different tax hike is also under discussion. The state Senate has passed a measure that would increase the tax on a package of cigarettes by $1 over the next three years. Revenue estimates reach as high as $350 million when the increase is fully implemented. It’s unclear whether there are enough votes in the House today to approve the Senate bill. Republican votes would be needed, and at this stage no GOP member has voiced support.

There may be other ways to fund the MAP program. The legislature will be back in Springfield October 14 for the start of the fall veto session. I will do all I can to make sure these grants are covered next semester. I know this is a priority for many of my colleagues as well—and I hope my next report explains how we managed to do the right thing for the college-bound today and the Illinois economy of tomorrow.