BILL REQ. #:  H-0082.1 

Read first time 01/22/2003.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to gaining independence for students by establishing an educational assistance grant program for students with dependents; amending RCW 28B.10.801; adding a new section to chapter 74.04 RCW; and adding a new chapter to Title 28B RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   FINDING--INTENT. The legislature finds that financially needy students, especially those with dependents, are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in school due to the high costs of caring for their dependent children.
     The legislature intends to establish an educational assistance grant program, funded through gifts, grants, or endowments from private sources, for students with dependents who have additional financial needs due to the care they provide for their dependents eighteen years of age or younger.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   PROGRAM CREATED. The educational assistance grant program for students with dependents is hereby created, subject to the availability of receipts of gifts, grants, or endowments from private sources. The program is created to serve financially needy students with dependents eighteen years of age or younger, by assisting them directly through a grant program to pursue a degree or certificate at public or private institutions of higher education, as defined in RCW 28B.10.802, that participate in the state need grant program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   DEFINITION -- ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for the educational assistance grant program for students with dependents, applicants shall: (1) Be residents of the state of Washington; (2) be needy students as defined in RCW 28B.10.802(3); (3) be eligible to participate in the state need grant program as set forth under RCW 28B.10.810; and (4) have dependents eighteen years of age or younger who are under their care.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   ACCOUNT CREATION. (1) The students with dependents grant account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from the program shall be deposited into the account. Only the higher education coordinating board, or its designee, may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures.
     (2) The board may solicit and receive gifts, grants, or endowments from private sources that are made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, for the use and benefit of the purposes of the educational assistance grant program. The executive director, or the executive director's designee, may spend gifts, grants, or endowments or income from the private sources according to their terms unless the receipt of the gifts, grants, or endowments violates RCW 42.17.710.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM -- PAYMENTS TO PARTICIPANTS. The higher education coordinating board shall develop and administer the educational assistance grant program for students with dependents. The higher education coordinating board shall adopt necessary rules and guidelines and develop criteria and procedures to identify eligible participants in the program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   USE OF GRANTS. The educational assistance grant program for students with dependents grants may be used by eligible participants to attend any public or private college or university in the state of Washington as defined in RCW 28B.10.802. The participant is not eligible for a grant if the grant will be used to pursue a degree in theology. Each participating student may receive an amount to be determined by the higher education coordinating board, with a minimum amount of one thousand dollars per academic year, not to exceed the student's documented financial need for the course of study as determined by the institution.
     Educational assistance grants for students with dependents are not intended to supplant any grant scholarship or tax program related to postsecondary education. If the higher education coordinating board finds that the educational assistance grants for students with dependents supplant or reduce any grant, scholarship, or tax program for categories of students, then the higher education coordinating board shall adjust the financial eligibility criteria or the amount of the grant to the level necessary to avoid supplanting.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   This chapter may be known and cited as the gaining independence for students with dependents program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   A new section is added to chapter 74.04 RCW to read as follows:
     For purposes of RCW 74.04.005 (10) and (11), "resource" and "income" do not include educational assistance awarded under the gaining independence for students with dependents program as defined in this act for recipients of temporary assistance for needy families.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Captions used in this act are not any part of the law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Sections 1 through 7 and 9 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28B RCW.

Sec. 11   RCW 28B.10.801 and 1999 c 345 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature finds that the higher education coordinating board, in consultation with the higher education community, has completed a review of the state need grant program. It is the intent of the legislature to endorse the board's proposed changes to the state need grant program, including:
     (a) Reaffirmation that the primary purpose of the state need grant program is to assist low-income, needy, and disadvantaged Washington residents attending institutions of higher education;
     (b) A goal that the base state need grant amount over time be increased to be equivalent to the rate of tuition charged to resident undergraduate students attending Washington state public colleges and universities;
     (c) State need grant recipients be required to contribute a portion of the total cost of their education through self-help;
     (d) State need grant recipients be required to document their need for dependent care assistance after taking into account other public funds provided for like purposes; and
     (e) Institutional aid administrators be allowed to determine whether a student eligible for a state need grant in a given academic year may remain eligible for the ensuing year if the student's family income increases by no more than a marginal amount except for funds provided through the educational assistance grant program for students with dependents.
     (2) The legislature further finds that the higher education coordinating board, under its authority to implement the proposed changes in subsection (1) of this section, should do so in a timely manner.
     (3) The legislature also finds that:
     (a) In most circumstances, need grant eligibility should not extend beyond five years or one hundred twenty-five percent of the published length of the program in which the student is enrolled or the credit or clock-hour equivalent; and
     (b) State financial aid programs should continue to adhere to the principle that funding follows resident students to their choice of institution of higher education.