HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1368
BYRepresentatives H. Myers, Jacobsen, Doty, Cooper, Winsley, Leonard, Wood, Peery, Fraser, Van Luven, Basich, Walk, Rector, R. Meyers, Wineberry, Dorn, Wang, O'Brien, P. King, Pruitt and Ebersole
Creating the community scholarship foundation program.
House Committe on Higher Education
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. (14)
Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Doty, Fraser, Heavey, Inslee, Jesernig, Miller, H. Myers, Prince, Rector and Wood.
House Staff:Joan Elgee (786-7166)
AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION FEBRUARY 15, 1989
BACKGROUND:
The state funds a variety of financial aid programs. Some are grant programs, such as the state need grant program, and others are loans, such as the conditional scholarships for future teachers and nurses. The state and employers' higher educational opportunities program is a matching program whereby a public institution of higher education waives one half the tuition and fees if the employer pays the other half.
Local organizations may provide financial aid to local residents to attend institutions of higher education; however, the state does not currently provide incentives to encourage these efforts.
The Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America is a national, nonprofit organization which supports private sector financial aid. One of the major purposes of the Foundation is to support what are known as Dollars for Scholars Chapters. Dollars for Scholars Chapters are community-based, volunteer-operated scholarship foundations which make grants to students to attend institutions of higher education.
Currently, two Dollars for Scholars Chapters have organized in Washington: the Kettle Falls School District Scholarship Program and the Maple Leaf Community Council.
SUMMARY:
SUBSTITUTE BILL: The community scholarship foundation program is created. The program is a pilot project to encourage local communities, through a program of state matching awards, to develop scholarship foundations to assist their residents to obtain a higher education. The Higher Education Coordinating Board shall administer the program.
To qualify as a foundation eligible for state moneys, an organization must 1) have tax-exempt status under section 501(c) of the internal revenue code and meet other tax status requirements; 2) be organized after the effective date of the act for the primary purpose of raising and awarding scholarships to community residents who qualify as "resident students" to attend a degree-granting college or university or public vocational-technical institute in the state; 3) solicit broad-based community support in its fundraising activities and be representative of the community in its organization; 4) not be duplicative of other foundations; 5) be organized and operated by volunteers; 6) grant scholarships on a nondiscriminatory basis; and 7) meet other criteria established by the board.
The board shall award an eligible foundation $2,000 upon demonstration to the board that the foundation has raised $2,000 for scholarships or the creation of an endowment for scholarships. The awards of state money shall be used for scholarships. In making awards and establishing additional eligibility criteria, the board shall consider program goals to increase higher education participation for residents of economically distressed areas and other areas with low participation rates, and to create scholarship opportunities for students who do not meet the criteria for traditional scholarships and those who plan to focus their studies in the humanities and arts.
The board shall adopt rules and solicit assistance from public and private sources to publicize the program. The board may create an advisory committee.
An account is created for moneys received for the program. Moneys in the account may be spent for awards and administration of the program, except that a $60,000 appropriation made in the act shall only be used for awards.
By December 1, 1991, the board shall report to the governor and the legislature on the results and effectiveness of the program, and recommend whether the program should be continued and any modifications.
The program shall expire June 30, 1992, unless extended by law.
SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL: The community scholarship foundation program is specifically termed a pilot project. A statement of goals is added.
The criteria for a foundation to be eligible for state matching moneys are tightened to require that the foundation be representative of the community, award scholarships on a nondiscriminatory basis, and meet other requirements.
The form of the state matching awards is modified. Instead of a match of awards made to individual students on a dollar for dollar basis, the match is a $2,000 award to a foundation for $2,000 raised by the foundation.
The provision for funding the program through board moneys unobligated at the end of the biennium is deleted and a general fund appropriation of $60,000 added.
A reporting requirement and sunset clause are also added.
Appropriation: $60,000 from the general fund to the community scholarship foundation program account.
Fiscal Note: Requested February 15, 1989.
House Committee ‑ Testified For: John Nadeau, Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America; Jerry Thornton, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; Gerald Hunter, Kettle Falls School District; Deanne Merle, Pacific Lutheran University student; Jack Remick, Mary Melvey and Scot Espy, Maple Leaf Community Council; Robert Thamm, Kettle Falls Dollars for Scholars; John Klacik, Higher Education Coordinating Board; and Jay Reifel, Bethel School District.
House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.
House Committee - Testimony For: Providing incentive moneys to form local scholarship organizations is a creative and worthwhile use of state funds. Local organizations can generate a significant amount of scholarship money and will create an awareness of higher education among residents. The program is one way to help at-risk youth and could help equalize the disproportionate higher education participation rates across the state. The Dollars for Scholars Chapter in Kettle Falls has been very successful. Since its founding in 1987, the Chapter has awarded $5,000 in scholarships and placed more than $4,000 in an endowment.
House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.