College grants bill falters in 4-4 vote by Arkansas Senate panel

A piece of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's legislative agenda was rejected Wednesday after Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, joined three Democrats on the Senate Education Committee in voting against the bill to implement a new grant program for college students.

The Arkansas Future Grant program would use the $9 million a year in general revenue that now goes toward two existing grant programs -- the Workforce Improvement Grant and the Higher Education Opportunities Grant. House Bill 1426 failed in a 4-4 vote of the eight-member committee.

The new grant program would pay tuition and mandatory fees for a student to attend any Arkansas public two-year college or technical school. It would be available to students studying in high-demand fields -- like computer coding, nursing or welding.

Sens. Joyce Elliott and Linda Chesterfield, both Little Rock Democrats, voiced opposition to HB1426, because the bill excludes private schools, including Little Rock's three historically black campuses -- Shorter College, Philander Smith College and Arkansas Baptist College.

Elliott said that while the bill's sponsors did not have discriminatory intent, the measure is discriminatory against students who want to attend those historically black colleges.

Chesterfield said: "I think it's extremely unfortunate that we have chosen -- in a state where we're talking about choice all the time -- we have chosen to exclude a huge base of the economic development of this state."

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That argument persuaded Clark to join in opposing the measure. He said the state should not decide where students go to school.

"There's absolutely no difference in higher ed and K-12," he said. "School choice is school choice."

Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, who is the Senate sponsor of HB1426, said the reason the bill excluded private colleges was to allow the maximum number of students to take advantage of the grant program.

The bill requires that the Arkansas Future Grant be used as "last dollar" money after a student has used state-supported assistance, federal assistance and private scholarships, and is still short of covering college costs.

Maria Markham, director of the Department of Higher Education, said she expects about 6,500 students to take part in the new grant program, which has a cap of $3,500 per year per student. But, she expects most students to draw much less than the $3,500 from the program because of other scholarships that are available.

Johnson said the Arkansas Future Grant, as a "last dollar" program, would fill the gap between college costs and other scholarship amounts. Private schools generally are more expensive than public ones, so allowing the grant dollars to go to students at private colleges would mean assisting fewer students overall, he said.

"That's what you're trying to do is serve more people with the funds that you got," he said. "It was said that there was not a good reason, but that's why. You're trying to make these funds affect more students, and there are more minority students in those two-year institutions than there are in those private institutions."

After Wednesday's meeting, Johnson said he planned to talk with Arkansas Department of Higher Education officials about possibly amending the bill to include either all private schools, or historically black colleges and universities.

J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Hutchinson, said later that the governor did not plan to offer an amendment to the bill.

"We're confident in the policy," Davis said. "In an ideal world, we'd love to be able to encompass private institutions as well, but there's only so much money, so we have to prioritize."

Also, Markham said, public institutions offer more of the majors that the grant is targeting.

But Joseph Jones, president of Arkansas Baptist College, told committee members that a lack of money serves as a barrier to some students.

"As a new president that has a desire to develop associate degrees that are in the STEM field ... [not having the grant program available] takes away from my arsenal in recruiting students who want to get a degree at Arkansas Baptist College," he said. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

When Hutchinson announced the grant program in December, he said the new grant would be available on a first-come, first-served basis and would be available to traditional, home-school and nontraditional students. There would be no grade-point average requirement.

While they are in school, students who receive Arkansas Future Grant money would be required to perform eight hours of community service per semester. After graduation, the students would be required to work at least three years in Arkansas or repay the grant money.

Schools would be required to assign mentors to Arkansas Future Grant students to track their progress and help them attain degrees.

Just 23 percent of students who receive money under the Higher Education Opportunities Grant -- which the Arkansas Future Grant would replace -- earn degrees or certificates.

In addition to Elliott, Chesterfield and Clark, Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, voted against HB1426. Sens. Jane English, R-North Little Rock; Jim Hendren, R-Gravette; Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs; and Johnson voted for it.

Calendar

The calendar of public events of the 91st General Assembly for today, the 39th day of the 2017 regular session.

COMMITTEES

8:30 a.m. Senate Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs, Room 130.

9 a.m. Joint Budget Committee, Room A, Multi-Agency Complex.

9:30 a.m. Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee, Room 171.

10 a.m. House Education Committee, Room 138.

10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee, Room 149.

10 a.m. House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Room 130.

10 a.m. House Public Transportation Committee, Room B, Multi-Agency Complex.

10 a.m. Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee, Room 309.

10 a.m. Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, Old Supreme Court chamber.

HOUSE

1:30 p.m. House convenes.

SENATE

10:30 a.m. Senate convenes.

A Section on 02/16/2017