RALEIGH – Bills that would provide full funding for all University of North Carolina budget requests, create a ROPE Scholars program, and alter tax deductions for contributions to 529 plans were among the bills introduced in the State Senate Wednesday.
The introductions came during a busy day in the General Assembly that marked the deadline for bills in the State Senate to be filed with the Senate Principal Clerk’s office. The House has a similar deadline of April 18 for public bills and May 9 for appropriation bills.
In all, about 14 bills out of the 197 bills introduced in the Senate Wednesday, pertain specifically to higher education, either the UNC system or community colleges. Several of the bills provide backup for negotiations over the budget in the next few months.
Here is some information about the bills introduced Wednesday:
S1030 – The bill, introduced by Sen. Walter Dalton, D-46, would direct the State Board of Education, Board of Governors, and State Board of Community Colleges to develop the ROPE (Reaching One’s Potential for Excellence) Scholars program. ROPE would provide university scholarships to students who meet some of the bill’s requirements, such as maintaining a “B” average and a 95 percent attendance rate. If passed, a draft framework of the program would be delivered to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by Oct. 15 and a final proposal by Dec. 15. Both proposals would have to include the cost, and detail any state laws, rules, and policies that would prevent the scholarship program from being created. This is the first legislation that would create this type of merit program this session
S1040 – This bill, filed by Sen. Tony Rand,19, would make it easier for parents to set aside money for their children’s college education. It would increase the deduction to the Parental Savings Trust Fund with the State Education Assistance Authority from $750 to $2,500. A couple filling a joint return would be allowed to deduct $5,000, up from $1,500. The bill would also delete limits on income for using the tax deduction. Sen. David Hoyle, D-43, introduced a similar bill, S1141. It would increase the deduction for married couples to $4,000 and maintain current income limits, such as $100,000 adjusted gross income for married couples filing jointly.
S1050 – Sen. Fletcher Hartsell’s, R-36 bill would include funding in the budget for the UNC Research Campus in Kannapolis, the initiative being built at the former Pillowtext location. Funding for the project was not included in Gov. Mike Easley’s budget recommendations. The bill calls for $12.58 million in recurring funds and $13.7 million in nonrecurring funds to be appropriation to the project for the 2008 fiscal year. For the 2009 fiscal year, the appropriation would be $20.2 million in recurring funds and $2.1 million in nonrecurring funds.
S1057 – Filed by Sen. Richard Stevens, R-17, the bill would appropriate $2 million in both the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years for North Carolina State University to expand its Industrial Extension Service.
S1061 – The bill filed by Sen. Bob Atwater, D-18, would provide $31.6 million in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to provide differentiated funding for Allied Health Programs within the community college system. It also calls for the State Board of Community Colleges to alter its funding formulas to allow for differentiation to occur among the Allied Health Programs. It would allow the state to fund programs based on size in comparison to other programs.
S1065 – This bill, introduced by Dalton would allow community colleges to implement a 33 1/3 percent tuition surcharge to create new instructional programs needed to attract new industries into an area. Endowed scholarships would be used to offset the cost of the tuition charge for students.
S1069 – Introduced by Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-11, this bill provides full funding for all of the University of North Carolina expansion budget request which were $255 million for programs, including $116 million for academic salary increases. The salary increases were not included in Gov. Easley’s budget and university leaders have fought to get it included in the legislature’s budget documents. The bill also appropriates $428 million out of the General Fund for all capital project requests submitted by UNC officials. Easley had requested that 12 projects be included in a statewide bond referendum in November.
S1070 – Also introduced by Sen. Swindell, this bill would prevent the interest rate for three loan programs with the Education Assistance Authority from exceeding 10 percent. Those programs deal with nursing education and school administrator programs.
S1114 – Introduced by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-27, the bill would include enrollment growth funding for private colleges in the continuation budget. It would also include the legislative tuition grant and state contractual scholarship for private colleges in the continuation budget as well. Enrollment growth funds for the UNC system and public schools are already included in the continuation budget.
S1186 – The bill, introduced by Sen. Larry Shaw, D-21, would create an engineering school at Fayetteville State University. If adopted, the program would start in 2008.
S1183 – This bill is a Senate Resolution, introduced by Sen. Linda Garrou, D-32, to honor the life of former Board of Governors Chairman Ben Ruffin, who died in December.