Radogno: Legislative Scholarships One Step Closer to Elimination

Senate Executive Committee advances HB 3810
                                                                                                                
May 2, 2012

The state’s scandal-plagued legislative scholarship program is one step closer to elimination, said State Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), who is a co-sponsor of legislation (HB 3810) to end the General Assembly tuition waiver program, which was approved on May 2 by the Senate Executive Committee.

“This is another step forward to good public policy, and I am happy that we could pass the legislation in a bipartisan manner,” said Radogno, a long-time advocate for abolishing the costly perk.

Illinois media has uncovered a slew of abuses relating to the General Assembly Scholarship Program that stretches back to the 1980s. Allegations of impropriety continue to surface, which in some instances have led to federal investigations into evidence that lawmakers awarded the scholarships to friends, lobbyists and campaign donors.

Additionally, a recent study by the Chicago Tribune and ChicagoTalks.org, found that many lawmakers awarded the scholarships to a recipient outside their district. According to the study, over the last six years more than 1 in 3 legislators broke the law requiring scholarship recipients to live in the lawmaker’s district.

In 2012, Senate Republican lawmakers voluntarily walked away from the controversial legislative scholarship program. Radogno said that at a time when state government is not only looking to cut costs, but show it is serious about targeting impropriety, she believes eliminating the program is the right thing to do.

Radogno also praised the creation of a Tuition and Fee Waiver Task Force established by the bill, saying she is “very pleased” by plans to examine the state’s tuition waivers. The Task Force will be charged with conducting a review and evaluation of tuition and fee waiver programs at Illinois’ public universities, which are estimated to cost upwards of $356 million a year.

“While often the focus is on the abuse of the program, we also have to recognize that these scholarships are a financial drain on our higher education system,” Radogno said. “Universities shift the cost of these waivers onto other students at these schools who pay their tuition and fees. It’s important that we make financial aid available, but the decision on how to award that assistance should be left to professionals.

“If we want to see as many kids as possible get a good education, the best thing lawmakers can do is get the budget under control so we can focus on better funding our higher education system.”

Radogno explained that the state does not reimburse colleges for the cost of the program, instead passing the buck to the universities by more than $13 million a year. In turn, the institutions pass those costs on to other students through increased tuition and fees.