A controversial legislative scholarship program will continue for another year after the state Senate shot down House proposals to disband it late last week.
The legislative scholarship program, which critics claim is rife with patronage and abuse, allows state lawmakers to dole out $11.6 million in scholarships to students in their districts. The budget passed by the House of Delegates rerouted the cash to need-based financial aid, but when the General Assembly reached a final decision on the $32 billion budget Thursday, the program was left intact.
The budget also protected funding for the University System of Maryland. A proposed $2 million cut — minor in the context of the system’s $400 million budget — was dropped. The slash was intended to reflect savings from the reorganization of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, part of which this university would absorb. University President Dan Mote has said the cut could harm the state’s efforts to become a biotechnology hub.
The minor proposed alterations to the system’s budget left legislative scholarships as the most contentious element of the higher education budget. The 86-year-old program may have been too dear to senators’ hearts: Each state senator is given $138,000 to distribute in scholarship money every year. Delegates are given $35,436 each — about a quarter of the amount senators receive to dole out.
In total, the General Assembly awards $11.6 million. While senators must give the money to students who demonstrate some financial need, members of the House can create their own criteria.
“This is a relic from an older time when it was OK to spread patronage around, but we can’t afford to play those kinds of games when it comes to helping needy kids get to college,” said Ryan O’Donnell, the executive director of the lobbying group Common Cause.
Some legislators say the unclear standards are a recipe for corruption.
Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (R-Carroll and Howard) had made it a personal mission to eliminate the program, sponsoring legislation to do so four of the six years he’s served in the Senate.
But Senate President Mike Miller (D-Calvert and Prince George’s), who is also a university alumnus, has been a fierce defender of the program and has said it allows aid to reach students who might not normally qualify for it.
For now, the program stays, and Kittleman and others will have to take the battle to the next legislative session.
The fund balance takes an $8 million hit — more than the Senate’s recommended $3.8 million cut but less than the House’s $10 million — and though system administrators and lobbyists said cuts to the fund balance may impact the university’s ability to secure loans, the balance has not yet dipped low enough to have an impact.
apino@umdbk.com
