Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 9 (Mar. 9, 2004)

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A Briefing for Faculty & Staff of the University System of Georgia No. 9, March 9, 2004
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

Session Schedule
The General Assembly will meet this week on Tuesday, March 9 (Day 30 of the session), and Friday, March 12 (Day 31). Legislators have set Friday, April 2, as the target date for wrapping up the 2004 session (Day 40).
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 began meeting 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, 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 yearend 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 decided. 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

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- March 9, 2004, Issue No. 9

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

surface for our com-

changing for the

mittee members

better as we see in-

and the General

creased enrollment.

Assembly as a whole

People are learning

about how well our

the value of higher

university system is

education more and

regarded throughout

more. The idea of

the country and how

high-school students the Board of Regents

going to college is

has a special struc-

almost a given in

ture. We always try

a lot of families in

to emphasize the

Georgia these days.

separation of the

People still look

university system

upon the techni-

from the political

cal college system

day-to-day feelings.

as better preparing

I think it's impor-

students directly for tant for us to always

the workforce, so

emphasize that, as

you need that aspect legislators, there is

to it, but you also

a line we shouldn't

need the traditional

cross in terms of

college education.

what's done in the

So, I'm encouraged

university system,

by the USG's in-

and that's for the

creased enrollment,

best, for educa-

the higher SAT

tion as a whole. So,

scores in Georgia

we want to make

and the increased

sure that the wall

number of students

of separation is not

who are staying in

breeched, and at the

Georgia to attend

same time that we

college. We think the exercise our respon-

HOPE scholarship

sibility as legislators

may have something to know what's going

to do with that. All

on and to help the

of that is for the bet- system. And I think

ter.

we are accomplish-

Q:Are you accomplish- ing those things.

ing what you hoped Q: Please tell us how

to accomplish as the you are working to

committee's chair?

accomplish those

A: Yes, I am. I'm try-

goals?

ing to bring lots of A: We work closely

knowledge to the

with Tom Daniel

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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
See "Interview," Page 3 ...

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- March 9, 2004, Issue No. 9

Interview
Continued from Page 2...
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 you 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 communi-

cate to the general public the value of higher 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 rela-

tionships, 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
See "Interview," Page 4 ...

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- March 9, 2004, Issue No. 9

Interview
Continued from Page 3...
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.

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