Panel OKs $2 million move for state scholarships

LITTLE ROCK -- A legislative panel Monday signed off on Gov. Asa Hutchinson's request to transfer $2 million in rainy-day funds to the Governor's Distinguished Scholarship program to sustain the program's existing scholarship recipients and fund more scholarships.

The Joint Budget Committee's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee approved the Republican governor's request.

The scholarships pay up to $10,000 per year for tuition, fees, room and board at Arkansas' public or private colleges or universities.

The state provides $11.6 million a year in ongoing general revenue to pay for the scholarship program, said Harold Criswell, deputy director at the state Department of Higher Education.

So far, 492 students have applied for the scholarship program for the 2015-16 school year, and all of them have qualified for the program on a preliminary basis, said Criswell.

The scholarships have not been awarded to these applicants yet, he said, adding that preliminary notices will be sent out between April 1 and April 15.

Hutchinson wrote in his weekly column, released Friday, that the increasing number of students qualifying for the scholarship program during the past few years is good news.

"Our students are better prepared coming out of high school and our top performers could go to school almost anywhere in the country," he said. "But we want to keep them in Arkansas."

To receive the scholarship, students must score 32 or higher on a single ACT college admission exam or get a combined score of 1,410 from the math and critical-reasoning sections of the SAT. The scholarship also requires a GPA of 3.5 or above or selection as a National Merit Finalist or National Achievement Finalist, according to the state Department of Higher Education's website.

This is the second consecutive year that a legislative panel has approved a governor's request for $2 million in rainy-day funds to supplement the scholarship program.

In April 2014, the Legislative Council approved then-Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's request after then-state Department of Higher Education Director Shane Broadway told the council that the department didn't have enough money to provide scholarships to everyone who qualified.

In July, Broadway told lawmakers that 466 of the 535 students who qualified had accepted the scholarship and more students than ever had qualified for the scholarship, with the number increasing by about 120 over the previous year. The state usually provides funding for about 300 new scholarships a year, he said at that time.

In other action, the Performance Evaluation of Expenditure Review Subcommittee approved Hutchinson's request to transfer $824,875 in rainy-day funds to the Department of Human Services' Division of County Operations to replace the Eligibility and Enrollment Framework System for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, computer equipment and software licenses.

The committee also approved Hutchinson's request for transferring $400,000 in rainy-day funds to the Arkansas State Police for fleet vehicle purchases, equipment and sales taxes.

These actions leave $4.7 million in rainy-day funds for the governor to use, said Brandon Sharp, the state's budget administrator.

NW News on 03/10/2015

Upcoming Events