House passes, but doesn’t fund, scholarship program

BOISE – Lawmakers took a first step toward setting up a big new scholarship program for low-income Idaho college students Friday, over the objections of a few legislators.

“I’m going to vote no on pretty near all scholarship bills,” said Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, who cast one of four votes against the legislation in the House. “I’m not sure that taxpayer dollars should go to support that kind of stuff.”

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, chairman of the House Education Committee and lead sponsor of House Bill 217, said Idaho offers little in the way of needs-based scholarships for students.

“We rank third from the bottom in the 50 states in this country in providing educational opportunity and scholarships to college-bound students,” Nonini told the House. “We’re just ahead of Hawaii and Wyoming. That’s something I am not proud of and I hope this body is not proud of.”

Gov. Butch Otter this year called for setting up a $38 million endowment for need-based scholarships. The earnings from the endowment would pay for about $2 million worth of scholarships a year, but lawmakers haven’t come up with the money; the bill that passed the House on Friday includes no funding.

“Basically what we’re trying to do is get the bucket out there, the bucket that hopefully will have some funds appropriated to it,” Nonini told the House. “It’ll be talked about later as to what we might be able to appropriate.” The fund also could accept donations.

The bill, which has been bottled up in committee for weeks while lawmakers and the governor talked about possible funding levels, won strong support in the House in the 64-4 vote.

Rep. Rep. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, stood and pledged his own donation to the fund. “I’ll publicly commit to the first thousand dollars,” he declared.

Mortimer said he was only able to start college because of a small needs-based scholarship that he received for his first semester. Then, he raised his grades and was able to qualify for other aid to complete his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Rep. Liz Chavez, D-Lewiston, said, “Every time a student goes to some sort of post-secondary education, we win – that’s the bottom line.”

But Rep. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, spoke out against the bill, saying the state should shift some of the money it’s planning to use for advanced math and science training for teachers into scholarships. “I’m just looking at a different way of addressing education problems,” Thayn said.

Harwood said he feels strongly that the government shouldn’t fund scholarships for college students. “We’ve had a pile of scholarship bills,” he said. “They’re just going to be getting out of hand. … I don’t believe that my grandmother should give her tax dollars to help someone continue their education on the college level.”

Harwood said he paid his own way when he earned a welding certificate at North Idaho College.

“If you want to have a college education, then pay for it,” he said. “That’s not what people pay taxes to do. We’re going down a road that’s gonna be slippery.”

The bill now moves to the Senate. The funding issue could be taken up next week by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.