THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA S.391 (In-State Tuition for Non-Resident Veterans) was passed by the Senate and sent to the House. If enacted, the legislation would enable SC colleges and universities to be in compliance with the Federal Veterans Choice Act of 2014 which requires states to provide in-state tuition rates to certain veterans (who are receiving Post 9-11 GI and Montgomery Bill education benefits), their spouses and dependents. The Senate Education Committee voted to adopt amendments from the Higher Education Subcommittee and also an amendment consistent with federal law to limit the benefit to within three years of a covered veterans discharge.
S.528 (Higher Education Textbook Policy) was introduced and referred to the Senate Education Committee. This legislation would add provisions for a textbook policy for public institutions of higher education that is intended to lower college textbook costs. The bill if enacted defines necessary terminology, provides for obligations of the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) to develop guidelines for the policy, and requires institutions to adopt and report on policies and identify a textbook coordinator by January 1, 2016
The State Budget Process
The Senate Finance Committee will continue to hold budget subcommittee hearings through early April. The full Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to begin work on the budget the week of April 13.
Detailed information on Clemson's 2015 state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2015-16 may be found at these links:
BILLS OF INTEREST The Clemson University Governmental Affairs office is monitoring several bills that have potential impact on Clemson. A complete listing of these bills may be found here. Click on the bill number for a description of the legislation, along with the bill's current status.
CLEMSON ON CAPITOL HILL Senators Introduce Manufacturing Universities Bill Last week, Senator Lindsey Graham and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill that aims to strengthen university engineering programs and high-tech manufacturing by designating 25 universities as "manufacturing universities." The 25 designated universities will be determined through a competitive vetting process. The Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015 would provide each designated university with $5 million per year for four years to meet specific goals, including focusing engineering education programs on manufacturing, building new partnerships with manufacturing firms, expanding training opportunities, and promoting manufacturing entrepreneurship. The program would be run by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, in coordination with other federal agencies. Higher Education Act Reauthorization to be introduced this Summer Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff are preparing for the introduction of a Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization sometime this summer before the August recess. FY 2016 Budget Resolutions and Higher Education The House and Senate unveiled and marked up their individual FY 2016 Budget Resolutions this week. Of particular interest to the higher education community are proposals related to Pell Grant funding. The House resolution would freeze the maximum Pell Grant at its FY 2015 level for the next 10 years and would eliminate all mandatory funding for Pell grants, cutting Pell funding by $89.3 billion. The Senate resolution would cut approximately $90 billion from the program over a 10 year period. The House and Senate will consider their FY 2016 Budget Resolution on the floor this week. FYI
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