Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association

104^th Tennessee General Assembly

Second Session Summary

The second and final session of the 104^th Tennessee General Assembly started where the first session ended, on the issue of ethics.  Last year ended on a dark note with FBI agents arresting four sitting Legislators for taking bribes.  The Session started in January with Governor Phil Bredesen calling legislators back for an Extraordinary Session on Ethics Reform.  The effect of the reform will be played out over the next few years.  Attendance at TICUA’s 50^th Anniversary celebration, however, was negatively impacted by the new law.  With the law just having passed days before the celebration, many lawmakers were unclear on their ability to attend without violating the new reform; consequently the attendance was below expectations.

TICUA followed a number of bills this year with special focus on the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship programs.  Below is the summary of a select number of key bills TICUA monitored during the session.

Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarships

Here is a summary of the changes to the lottery scholarships for Fall 2006:

• Base Hope scholarships increases to $3,800 for four year universities; $1,900 for the two year colleges and $1,500 for the technology centers.
• Students eligible for the Hope scholarship, but attend a Tennessee Technology Center, will be eligible for the full Hope scholarship if they choose to attend a two or four year college or university within three years of completion of the diploma program.
• Makes eligible students graduating from an accredited high school in a contiguous out-of-state county.
• Makes eligible dependents of religious workers who are Tennessee residents but are serving overseas.
• Students who have been in foster care, on or after the age of fourteen, are eligible for an increased grant if they attend a two or four year college or university.  The grant at TICUA member campuses is estimated to equal to the cost of attendance at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville for four year institutions or the cost of attendance at a community college for Hiwassee and John A. Gupton colleges.  The grant is a last dollar grant, meaning that all other non-payback aid must be applied before the foster grant is calculated.
• Current certified public school teachers who seek to obtain a Master’s degree in teaching science or math are eligible for a $2,000 grant for graduate education.

Lottery Reserve Amendment Defeated

During the first years of implementation of the Tennessee lottery the revenue has far exceeded the cost of the lottery scholarship programs.  The current value of the excess fund is over $250 million.  TICUA, the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee Board of Regents, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission were all signatories to a proposal that would move the excess funds into a lottery scholarship trust managed by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation.  Interest income off the trust would be used to supplement the Aspire component of the lottery scholarship program.  The Senate placed the amendment on its’ version of omnibus bill but the House refused to conform.  Consequently, the excess funds will not be placed in a secure reserve for the longevity of the scholarship program; rather it is open to other constitutionally authorized expenditures.

For Profit Colleges Thwarted

This year marked the first all-out effort of the non-regionally accredited, for-profit colleges to be considered eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) programs.  Currently, for-profit colleges can be eligible if they are regionally accredited.  South College of Knoxville is currently the only TELS eligible for-profit college.  The effort to remove regional accreditation as a prime institutional qualifier was opposed by TICUA, University of Tennessee, and the Board of Regents.   It was estimated that over $60 million in scholarships would have been needed to support the for-profit college inclusion.  The attempt appeared to have more support in the House than the Senate.  It is expected that for-profit colleges will attempt another try at inclusion next year.

Tennessee Student Assistance Award

Increased State revenue estimates surfaced in the final days of the General Assembly that allowed the General Assembly appropriate an additional $2.1 million for the Tennessee Student Assistance Award.  The additional appropriation is an effort offset previous reductions to the grant program.  This will bring the need-based student aid program to $44 million.  Students attending a TICUA member college or university receive approximately $18 million a year from this aid program. Even with this increase over 30,000 eligible students unfunded for 2006 - 2007.

TICUA Benefit Consortium

During the middle of the session, TICUA launched an effort for the TICUA Benefit Consortium (TBC) to receive oversight and taxation relief from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.  After weeks of debate and negotiation with the Department a compromise was reached to allow a bill to move forward exempting the TBC from mandated benefits and premium taxes.  The fiscal note, however, became the bill’s ultimate demise. Neither the House nor Senate was willing to fund the decrease in State revenues for the tax exemption provision.  Senate sponsor Mike Williams moved to send the bill to a study committee to review the issues related to the TBC’s desire to seek oversight relief.  The Senate passed the study initiative which will begin this summer with the final report due by January 1, 2007.

Online Nursing Program

TICUA opposed an effort for an unaccredited online diploma nursing program to operate in Tennessee.  The Virginia based program is a part of the Southside Regional Medical Center’s (SRMC) diploma nursing program.  The program has been put on notice by the Virginia Board of Nursing as low performing.  SRMC applied to the Tennessee Board of Nursing to operate in the state but was denied.  SRMC then sought to override the Board’s decision by appealing to the Tennessee General Assembly.  The House passed their version of the bill but the Senate General Welfare, Health, and Human Resources Committee voted the bill down.  Bill sponsors then sought to side-step the Committee’s no vote by attaching it as an amendment to the TN Board of Nursing’s sunset bill.  Senator Thelma Harper sent the Board of Nursing into wind down by taking the bill off notice in order to defeat SRMC’s efforts.  Next year the General Assembly will have to take action to extend the Board of Nursing or it will cease to exist.

Please feel free to contact TICUA’s President Dr. Claude Pressnell if you have any questions or would like additional information.