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August 3 and 4, 2005
University of Wyoming Outreach Building
Casper, Wyoming
Senators: Tex Boggs and Charles Scott
Representatives: Steve Harshman and Jeff Wasserburger
Other members: Reed Eckhardt, Andrew Hansen, Tom Kinnison, Dr. Joe Megeath, Bryan Monteith, Lisa Skiles Parady and Marta Stroock
Dave Gruver
Please refer to Appendices 1a and 1b to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.
All meeting materials and handouts provided to the Committee by the Legislative Service Office (LSO), public officials, lobbyists, and the public are referenced in the Meeting Materials Index, attached to the minutes. These materials are on file at the LSO and are part of the official record of the meeting. The agenda which was followed is attached as appendix 2.
Cochairman Harshman called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Draft legislation
Cochairman Boggs explained draft bill 06 LSO 0042.W6. (Appendix 3). He reviewed the Committee's charge under 2005 Senate File 122 and explained how the draft legislation addressed each of the issues the Committee was to consider. He reviewed the minutes from the prior meeting in which all Committee members addressed what they would like to see in the proposed bill and explained how the bill draft dealt with those issues.
The Committee took public testimony.
Bill Schilling, Wyoming Business Alliance supported the bill generally, suggested the Committee should carefully consider any deviations from the Louisiana plan, which he viewed as the most successful, and opposed any maximum income limitation. He also suggested the Committee consider a fluctuating GPA and standardized test score in which a high GPA could offset a low test score and vice versa.
Dr. Jim Rose, executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission, supported changes to allow part time students to receive scholarships. He also supported increasing the maximum time for scholarship eligibility, noting that many community college students are not traditional students. Dr. Rose noted the bill was an important first step and assuring its passage was more important than ensuring that it covered every situation.
Dave Scriven, Wyoming Workforce Council, stated that it was important to have vocational training for youth and that the bill should not exclude those students who most need a scholarship, which in his view were mid-income and mid-performance range students.
Rick Miller, University of Wyoming, provided a series of proposed amendments. (Appendix 4) He also provided a response to Cochairman Boggs' request for an estimate of existing scholarship funds which would be available with a new program. (Appendix 5). Mr. Miller explained each proposed amendment. (See appendix 4).
Bob Hopkins, Casper, supported the bill generally. He urged the Committee not to establish the requirements too high as a number of students, like himself, might not achieve the highest test scores or grade point averages, but still do well after earning their degree. Those students are in need of scholarships, just as he was.
Kathy Moriarity, Torrington, testified that as a former financial aid director and community college instructor she believed the bill should first increase access to colleges for Wyoming students. She was concerned that the bill not become an elitist program and suggested using either a GPA or test score requirement but not both. She also urged the program be opened to part-time students.
Rennae Griffith echoed Ms. Moriarity's views on opening up the program. Many students do not meet the requirements for a high GPA or ACT score and do not qualify for federal grants, but still should be able to attend college.
Gary McDowell, Wyoming Education Association, stated that the initial levels for qualifications should be high enough to provide incentives to take rigorous courses, but should not be so high as to be barrier. A high school GPA beyond 2.5 for the initial level would be too high in his view.
Sherri Meidinger, a parent of both a University and high school student, urged the Committee to make the program as broad as possible. She cautioned against setting the standards too high, noting that could be a hindrance to many students taking more challenging courses.
Dr. Burke Grandjean and Suzann Koller, University of Wyoming, presented an updated cost model for the scholarship program. They explained that the model is still in its preliminary stage and it is intended to make projections, not predictions. The model allows for an estimate of the program's predicted cost, based upon a number of adjustable requirements and assumptions. Dr. Grandjean provided a summary of the model and two projections, based upon differing GPA, test score and need levels. (Appendices 6 - 8).
Representative Wasserburger moved draft bill 06 LSO 0042.W6 be considered. The motion was seconded and the Committee took the following actions:
Mr. Eckhardt moved draft amendment 2 (appendix 9), imposing a community service requirement. Failed.
Mr. Megeath moved draft amendment 6 (appendix 10), removing the prohibition on felons receiving a scholarship. Passed.
Mr. Megeath moved draft amendment 10 (appendix 11), removing the requirement that application for a scholarship be made within two years of graduation from high school. Withdrawn.
Cochairman Boggs explained and Mr. Kinnison moved draft amendment 8 (appendix 12), which would lower the ACT score for the certificate scholarship from 18 to 17. Cochairman Harshman moved to amend the amendment by making the same change for the lowest degree scholarship. That amendment was accepted and the main amendment then passed.
Mr. Megeath moved draft amendment 9 (appendix 13) which would decrease the number of hours required to maintain the scholarships in order to allow part-time attendance. The motion failed.
Mr. Megeath moved draft amendment 11 (appendix 14) which would allow attendance at any eligible institution for either scholarship. The motion passed.
Mr. Eckhardt moved draft amendment 14 (appendix 15) which would expand the definition of eligible institution to include private institutions. The motion failed.
Mr. Eckhardt withdrew proposed amendment 1 in favor of proposed amendment 7, which was moved by cochairman Harshman. (Appendix 16) That amendment would create an additional degree/certificate scholarship. It also modified the requirements for the scholarships and removed a restriction on attendance for the initial four years for the first degree scholarship level. The amendment would also limit attendance at a community college to the initial four semesters under the degree scholarship. That portion of the amendment raising the GPA to 2.75 for maintenance of the highest scholarship was withdrawn. The motion passed. Staff was instructed to conform the amendment to the earlier Megeath amendment so that any eligible institution could be attended for the degree scholarships, but attendance at a community college would be limited to the first four semesters.
The Committee recessed at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 4
Cochairman Harshman moved to amend the amendment adopted the previous day to provide for three tiers of merit scholarships at levels of $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000. The Committee discussed amending the need based component, but no additional motion was made at this time. The motion passed.
Mrs. Stroock moved draft amendment number 5, (appendix 17). The amendment would require that the unmet financial needs of a subset of the highest merit scholarship recipients be funded, to the extent those needs exceed two thousand dollars. Representative Wasserburger moved to amend the amendment to make it applicable to all those receiving the highest level merit scholarship and otherwise meeting the need requirement. The amendment was accepted by Mrs. Stroock. The main amendment passed.
Mr. Eckhardt moved draft amendment 3A (appendix 18) which would require the institution to pay the full amount of the highest level scholarship. The motion failed.
Mr. Eckhardt withdrew draft amendment 3B.
Mr. Eckhardt moved draft amendment 13 (appendix 19) which allows state standardized tests to be recommended in the future as additions to the use of the ACT or WORKEYS scores for initial eligibility, but would not allow the state standards to be recommended to supplant the ACT and WORKEYS. The motion passed.
Mr. Kinnison moved draft amendment 18 (appendix 20) which would replace the department of education with a newly created board in carrying out the duties under the program. The motion failed.
Cochairman Harshman moved draft amendment 15 (appendix 21) which would establish a floor amount of $100 for the need based portion of the scholarship. The motion passed.
Mr. Monteith moved draft amendment 17 (appendix 22) which were technical corrections. The motion passed.
The Committee then considered the list of amendments provided by the University (See appendix 4).
Mr. Monteith moved proposed amendment 1, which would change the semester upon which initial eligibility determinations are made. Cochairman Boggs moved to amend the amendment to allow for use of GPAs after either the sixth or seventh semesters of high school. The amendment to the amendment passed as did the main motion.
Senator Scott moved proposed amendment 2; then moved to substitute his proposed amendment 2 (appendix 23). Representative Wasserburger moved to divide the amendment with the Committee first considering that part from paragraph (iii) on, concerning forecast of need amounts and adjusting the test score levels. That part of the amendment failed. The Committee next considered that part of the amendment adjusting the need based component to remove consideration of work study and loan funds. Senator Scott moved to reduce the cap from $1,000 to $750. That motion passed. The remainder of the main motion then passed with staff being directed to conform the language to accommodate earlier actions on the need based component.
Senator Scott moved amendments 5 and 7, dealing with exceptions to certain requirements for good cause. The motion passed.
Ms. Skiles Parady moved amendment 8, which would prohibit a student from attending another higher education institution and later seeking a Hathaway scholarship. The motion failed.
Representative Wasserburger moved amendment 12 which would adjust the GPA's for maintenance of the scholarships. The motion was amended to set the required maintenance GPA at 2.25 for scholarships at the lowest level and at 2.5 for the middle and high scholarships. The motion passed.
Mr. Hansen moved amendment 15, which would extend the time for the University to report a list of scholarship recipients from 30 to 45 days after the semester commences. The motion passed.
Senator Scott moved amendment 16, which would provide for an estimated prepayment and subsequent balance payments to the institutions each semester. The motion was made with the direction for staff and the University to ensure that overpayments would be corrected and to address the phase-in of the program. The motion passed.
Mr. Eckhardt moved amendment 17, which would expand the development of a program for seventh grade students to expose them to post-secondary opportunities. Mr. Kinnison moved to delete the appropriation. That motion passed. The main motion failed.
Senator Scott moved amendment 19, which addressed another good cause exception. The motion passed.
Senator Scott moved amendment 21, which would provide a statement of legislative intent regarding institutional and Hathaway scholarships. The motion passed.
Amendment 22 was not moved, but staff was directed to work with the cochairmen on a reserve account similar to reserve accounts created for the permanent Wyoming mineral trust fund.
Mr. Kinnison moved to rename the three scholarship levels, Hathaway honor, performance and opportunity scholarships. The motion passed.
The Committee moved to the remaining amendments proposed by Senator Scott. (Appendix 23) He withdrew amendment 3, in favor of work on reserve account language.
Senator Scott moved his proposed amendment 4, addressing changes to the WORKKEYS test and federal enactments. The motion passed.
Senator Scott moved his proposed amendment 5, addressing funding and the implementation date. Mr. Kinnison moved to change the implementation date to the fall of 2007. The motion passed. Staff was directed to change the sufficient funds appropriated to an amount sufficient for one year's scholarships. The main motion passed.
Mr. Kinnison moved to denote the certificate scholarships as Hathaway career scholarships. The motion passed.
Mr. Megeath renewed his motion for part-time students to be eligible, but with a change from his earlier motion to a maximum of 6 years (12 semesters) rather than 8 years (16 semesters) to use the scholarship. The motion passed.
Cochairman Boggs noted that he would prepare amendments addressing GPA requirements if a student did start his post secondary degree at a non-eligible institution.
The Committee agreed to consider the bill as amended at it next meeting.
Senator Scott explained his constitutional amendment proposal. (06 LSO 0056.W1). The proposal would allow the creation of funds to fund scholarships and other post-secondary endowments. The funds could be invested as are other permanent funds of the state. The funds would be required to be used for education. Representative Wasserburger moved on page 3-line 6 to insert "Hathaway" after "for". The motion passed. Representative Wasserburger moved to delete the words "and quantity" where they appeared in the bill. The motion passed. Mr. Kinnison moved the Committee consider the amended resolution at its next meeting. The motion passed.
Senator Scott suggested the Committee consider requesting the Governor to include the funding for the program in his next budget. Senator Scott also suggested that a copy of the bill be provided to former Governor Hathaway and that he be invited to attend the next Committee meeting.
Information regarding the school districts responses to the proposed scholarship program was provided to the Committee. (Appendix 24).
The next meeting was set for September 13, at 8:00 a.m. The meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________________
Representative Steve Harshman Cochairman