State legislators will consider changes to financial aid and other issues affecting ASU in bills proposed this legislative session.
Work-study
House Bill 2626, sponsored by Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford, would create a state-subsidized work-study program for competitively-waged jobs at public universities.
The bill would help graduate and undergraduate students get jobs in the career field they are interested in and make market-level wages while still in school.
Shon Zelman, government relations director for Undergraduate Student Government, and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senators Richard Sales and Chris Gustafson went to the Capitol and testified in support of the bill last Monday.
Zelman said the response from the legislature was positive.
"They want to hear more input from students, and that's what we hope to provide them," he added.
Maceo Brown, executive director of the Arizona Students Association, said the bill is receiving bi-partisan support.
"The great thing about 2626 is the fact that it is open for investment," he added.
Brown said investors are considering matching the $5 million proposal, but declined to elaborate.
"The reason why we are really interested in this is there are a lot of failures with the federal work-study program," he said.
Some of the problems students run into include not getting the work experience they thought they would before graduation and only making minimum wage while in school, Brown said.
With this bill, students would be working professional jobs and making competitive wages while in college.
Students would not only receive financial support, they would also get a great working experience, Brown added.
Increased financial aid
Senate Bill 1133, sponsored by Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, would increase the amount of money available for financial aid.
The bill would make more of the state's financial aid trust fund available for immediate use.
This statewide financial aid fund is comprised of student tuition money and state contributions. However, 50 percent of that money must be kept as a permanent investment.
Under this bill, 75 percent of that money would be immediately available for financial aid.
"This is a critical piece of legislation to improve the state's investment in financial aid," said Scott Smith, ASU's director of state and local government relations. "This office supports the governor's efforts to increase financial aid funding sources."
"If we get what we want out of this bill, potentially more than 7,000 [students] would benefit and this is an average of over a thousand dollars per grant per student," Brown said.
Club membership and advocacy
Senate Bill 1153, introduced by Sen. Linda Gray, R-Phoenix, would require public colleges and universities to allow student organizations to advocate political, religious or philosophical beliefs and determine membership based on those beliefs.
Financial aid sources
House Bill 2014, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, would ensure that tuition or fees collected from a student would not be used to fund any other student's tuition or financial aid.
Smith, ASU's government relations director, said the bill would have a negative impact on students.
"It would have devastating consequences to the advancements we have made in terms of higher education access," Smith said.
One of the greatest barriers to achieving a college degree is the ability to cover the cost of attending the University, he added.
"We have been trying to increase our available financial aid for students," he said.
ASU has been able to do this through the use of tuition monies for financial aid, Smith said.
"If we lose the ability to do that, we are going to see terrible consequences for our ability to provide financial aid for students," he added
Legal residents and tuition
Rep. Gray also introduced two bills related to illegal immigration.
House Bill 2068 says that only students who are U.S. citizens would be eligible for tuition waivers or money paid by the state.
House Bill 2069 states that anyone without lawful immigration status is not entitled to classification as an in-state student.
Bill 2069 is similar to House Bill 2030, which the governor vetoed last year, Smith said.
Reach the reporter at laura.graham@asu.edu.
