Ohio Senate Restores Limited OCOG Funding
for Career College StudentsBut state budget crisis worsens —
lawmakers face more very tough decisionsHouse-Senate conference committee appointed! (COLUMBUS – updated June 10, 2009 ) Ohio senators, faced with a much larger state budget shortfall than when Governor Strickland unveiled his spending proposal in January, still recognize the important contributions career college graduates make to improving the state’s economy. They have restored some of the Ohio College Opportunity Grant funding cut by the Governor by more than half and then slashed even deeper by the House of Representatives – a total 81% reduction.
When the budget bill emerged from the house, 2-year OCOG grant funding for career college students based upon financial need had been cut from an average $2,871 to $537 per student.
As budget hearings began in February, the state faced an additional $1 billion dollar deficit. But tax revenues continue to nose dive due to the recession. Now, the state’s red ink is expected to be several billion dollars more – and that’s just by early summer. Despite this terrible news, the senate restored OCOG average grants to students to $1,556 – still cut by nearly half, but much higher than when the bill left the house. The issue, however, is far from resolved.
This is because senate and house lawmakers must reconcile their differences in a conference committee and present an agreed-upon bill to the Governor Strickland for his signature by June 30th. The governor could veto some or all of it, or sign it into law. Some good grant eligibility news mixed with the badUnlike the block grant eligibility plan submitted by the governor and then cut even more by the house, senators recognized that all college students should be treated equally in determining their eligibility for financial assistance – whether they attend a 4-year state-supported public university or community college, a private non-profit college or a career college. So, while financial assistance to all college students has been significantly reduced, the senate insisted there should be one OCOG system, with equal access for all Ohio students.
Letters, emails and phone calls – more important than ever!So, write, email or call your state representative, senator and the governor’s office now! If you’ve already done so (thank you), please do it again! All throughout our effort to Save OCOG for career college students, it has been important to tell them what you think. Instructions are posted here on how to contact your legislators, with tips on letter-writing and sample messages. Please also write to Governor Strickland – as we head toward July 1, it’s more important than ever! House-Senate conference committee members appointedThe following legislators have been appointed to the conference committee to hammer out the entire and final state budgetl bill to send to Governor Strickland:
• The House has named Reps. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron), Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield) and Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) as its representatives.
• Senate members include Sens. John Carey (R-Wellston), Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) and Dale Miller (D-Cleveland).
THESE LAWMAKERS WILL DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOUR OCOG ASSISTANCE WILL BE FOR THE NEXT 2 YEARS IN THE FINAL AGREEMENT THEY'LL SEND TO THE GOVERNOR!
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"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small… never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
– Winston Churchill, 1941
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