No. 9, March 9, 2004

Session Schedule
The General Assembly will meet this week on Tuesday, March 9 (Day 30 of the session), and Friday, March 12 (Day 31 of the session). Legislators have set Friday, April 2, as the target date for wrapping up the 2004 session.

Budget Update

Last week, the Senate approved the state's Fiscal Year 2004 Amended Budget without making any significant changes to the Senate Appropriations Committee's recommendations for the University System of Georgia. The House and Senate versions of this budget were given to a Conference Committee that met over the weekend to reconcile the differences. The Conference Committee is expected to present its recommendations to the House and Senate sometime this week. If both chambers agree with the compromise, the budget will be ready for the Governor's signature.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives expects to approve its version of the FY 2005 Budget by March 12.

Senate Committee Leaves HOPE Scholarship Book, Fee Payments Intact - for Now

The Senate Higher Education Committee last week approved a plan that does not eliminate payments for books and fees from the HOPE Scholarship program, but does build in some protection for these funds.

Under the committee's version of the HOPE Scholarship bill, book and fee payments will not be affected unless the year-end balance of the state lottery funds that fuel the HOPE program dips below the previous year-end balance. When that happens, fee payments for the following year will be capped at $500.

If the year-end balance for lottery funds drops two years in a row, fee payments will be eliminated, the committee said. Three consecutive years of diminished lottery funds will bring about the elimination of book payments for HOPE scholars.

State analysts are projecting a drop in lottery funds for Fiscal Year 2006. The original legislation proposing changes to help the HOPE Scholarship program survive was very similar to the version passed by the Senate Higher Education Committee, but it called for the elimination of book and fee payments starting this fall.

Book and fee payments aside, the legislation under consideration requires a minimum 3.0 grade-point average to qualify for a scholarship, a tougher standard than is used currently. The bill also requires the Student Finance Commission to check HOPE scholars' grades more frequently than it does now to ensure they are maintaining the required grade-point average. Currently, students' grades are checked upon earning 30, 60 and 90 credit hours. The bill now under consideration also would require them to be checked every spring semester.

HOPE FACTS:

• Number of University System of Georgia students with HOPE scholarships in FY 2002: 83,230
• Amount of HOPE funds awarded to USG students in FY 2002: $196.7 million
• Percentage of Georgia public high-school graduates eligible for HOPE in FY 2002: 56 percent
• Increase in number of USG students receiving HOPE since 1995: 185 percent
• Cost of the HOPE Scholarship program in FY 2002: $323 million

THE BOTTOM LINE: Since 1993, 349,880 USG students have received $1.28 billion from the HOPE Scholarship Program

Behind the Scenes: An Interview with Bill Hamrick
Chair, Senate Higher Education Committee

Q: How are you enjoying your second year as chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee? What have you liked best about this position?

A: I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. The people I work with in the university system and in the other higher education areas are very intelligent, hard working people who understand the pressures we're under here and help us work through issues. When we have committee meetings, they're always there, and they're a big help. We've taken advantage of the university system's resources to call on experts in a lot of different fields. We've had several of those people come speak to us, and we've benefited from the depth of their knowledge.

Q: From your perspective as chair of this committee, are attitudes towards higher education changing for better or for worse?

A: I think attitudes are changing for the better as we see increased enrollment. People are learning the value of higher education more and more. The idea of high-school students going to college is almost a given in a lot of families in Georgia these days. People still look upon the technical college system as better preparing students directly for the workforce, so you need that aspect to it, but you also need the traditional college education. So, I'm encouraged by the USG's increased enrollment, the higher SAT scores in Georgia and the increased number of students who are staying in Georgia to attend college. We think the HOPE scholarship may have something to do with that. All of that is for the better.

Q: Are you accomplishing what you hoped to accomplish as the committee's chair?

A: Yes, I am. I'm trying to bring lots of knowledge to the surface for our committee members and the General Assembly as a whole about how well our university system is regarded throughout the country and how the Board of Regents has a special structure. We always try to emphasize the separation of the university system from the political day-to-day feelings. I think it's important for us to always emphasize that, as legislators, there is a line we shouldn't cross in terms of what's done in the university system, and that's for the best, for education as a whole. So, we want to make sure that the wall of separation is not breeched, and at the same time that we exercise our responsibility as legislators to know what's going on and to help the system. And I think we are accomplishing those things.

Q: Please tell us how you are working to accomplish those goals?

A: We work closely with Tom Daniel and representatives from the various USG schools. They help us define and accomplish our goals. For example, if one goal is to keep the delicate balance between too much legislative involvement and not enough, we always touch base with the people who are in the system and get their perspective before we act. If we want to attract very sophisticated national educators, then we need to have the facilities to operate on that level. The media doesn't always spin the story that way - the public doesn't always see the need for some of those expenditures, so we're always trying to let people know that we're in touch with their desires, but at the same time we understand that, to have a national reputation, sometimes you have to do things that, to the average person may seem a little overboard. So that is something we're always trying to balance.

Q: In terms of serving the state's needs, what is the University System doing well from the perspective of your committee? Any suggestions on what we could be doing better?

A: I think the university system works well within its framework. If you go back to what I mentioned earlier about the separation between the Constitution and the Board of Regents, I think you really do a good job of making sure that you have the authority to hire the presidents and that there's no interference from local boards of alumni and trustees.

I think you also do well in terms of taking the money we're able to give them and distributing it across the system. I think you do well in attracting people who are willing to serve on the Board of Regents. We have a former governor, Joe Frank Harris, who's very well thought of, along with several other very distinguished board members. I think you do very well in attracting those types of people to the board. And then, the USG staff does an unbelievable job of responding to our requests for information. As the co-chair of the HOPE Study Commission, I can tell you that we asked many times for statistics and graphs, easy to understand information. And you've provided that in a very efficient way. You do a great job of keeping us up to date on what's going on. And obviously you're doing something right to have two universities ranked among the top 20 in the nation - Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. That speaks well of those schools and of the system itself.

[Regarding suggestions on what the University System could be doing better:] I guess my only suggestion would be to try to communicate to the general public the value of education, particularly its value here in Georgia as compared to other states. We have people concerned about the cost of higher education in Georgia, but if you compare it to other states, it's really a bargain. We may be able to do a better job of getting that message out to people.

Q: How can we best partner with the legislature and other state agencies to meet the increasing educational needs of Georgians?

A: Continue to have a good working relationship with key members of the legislature who are committed to higher education and focused on it. Going back to what the System is doing well, that's one area where you do a great job in terms of always being available to members of the General Assembly and being proactive in communicating. I think the best way to partner with the legislature is to have those lines of communications open, develop those relationships, so that when questions do come up, there's someone to call. And you're doing that. I don't know that y'all can do any better, from my perspective. The chancellor's great about working with legislators. Tom Daniel's certainly about as good as you get. And then, the people who represent the different universities who take an interest in getting to know the legislators - the president of the University of West Georgia is in constant communication with me - that's going pretty well.

Q: What are your thoughts about the FY 2005 Budget...for the state as a whole and for the University System?

A: I think the FY '05 Budget's going to be another tough one, but hopefully once we get through that year, things will start picking up again. The Governor's Office and the revenue department are working very hard to do everything they can to put systems in place to maximize our revenue. If the economy picks up again, that ought to serve us well, to be able to collect as much as we can and restore some of the cuts that have been made.

So, I think - for the University System and the state as a whole - if we can get through FY '05 and look at the trimming that needs to be done as an opportunity to prepare to run more efficiently in the future, that we may end up being in better shape than we were before we went through this, if it's approached in the right way.

Q: Do you have anything you'd like to add that I haven't asked about?

A: We appreciate the University System's working relationship with the committee and the General Assembly. I look forward to continuing that and being on a committee that's committed to higher education. We're open to suggestions about how we can help.