November 19, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith and referred to the Committee on Tax Policy.
A bill to amend 1964 PA 208, entitled
"An act to grant scholarships to students enrolled in postsecondary
education institutions; and to provide for the administration of
the scholarship program,"
by amending sections 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11 (MCL 390.974, 390.975,
390.976, 390.980, and 390.981), sections 4 and 5 as amended by 1986
PA 270 and section 6 as amended by 1980 PA 500; and to repeal acts
and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
4. (1) An Subject to subsections
(3) and (4), an
applicant is eligible for the award of a first-year scholarship if
the authority finds that the applicant meets all of the following:
(a) Has resided continuously in this state for the preceding
12 months and is not considered a resident of any other state.
(b) Has graduated from a high school, or is a student in good
standing in a high school who will graduate at the end of the
academic year, or an individual who has passed a graduate
equivalency examination approved by the state board of education,
or, if not a high school graduate, is recommended favorably by an
appropriate educational institution as defined in rules promulgated
by the authority.
(c) Except for the applicant for a graduate scholarship, based
upon the state competitive scholarship examination, the applicant
shows promise of satisfactorily completing a course of study at an
approved postsecondary institution of the applicant's choice in
this state. For an applicant for a graduate scholarship, the
authority shall determine the examination standards for
eligibility.
(d) Has complied with this act and the rules promulgated under
this act by the authority.
(e)
Is not incarcerated in a corrections institution.
(2)
An Subject to subsections
(3) and (4), an applicant who
the authority determines is eligible for award of a scholarship
under this act shall complete using the scholarship within 10 years
after his or her eligibility is determined.
(3) The authority shall not provide scholarships under this
act in the 2007-2008 academic year or any subsequent academic year.
(4) If a student was awarded a scholarship under this act
before the 2007-2008 academic year, the authority shall not pay the
amount of the scholarship or any remaining unpaid balance of the
scholarship to the student after September 15, 2007.
(5) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that
added this subsection, the authority shall notify each new
scholarship recipient, each existing scholarship recipient who has
not received all of his or her scholarship money, and each approved
institution of the pending repeal of this act and the timetables
described in subsections (3) and (4).
(6) As used in this act, "academic year" means the period from
August 1 of a calendar year to July 31 of the next calendar year.
Sec. 5. (1) There shall be awarded for each academic year
before the 2007-2008 academic year the number of first-year
scholarships that may be financed through available money. Of this
number not less than 3 scholarships shall be awarded to residents
of each legislative district, and the balance of the scholarships
shall be awarded to residents of the state at large.
(2) Each scholarship described in subsection (1) shall be
renewed by the authority upon application of the student awarded
the first-year scholarship without further examination if the
applicant remains eligible under sections 4 and 6 and is in
compliance with rules promulgated by the authority.
(3) A scholarship may be renewed for not more than 10
semesters or its equivalent in trimesters or quarters of
undergraduate education, or the equivalent as determined by the
authority for less than full-time but more than half-time students.
(4) Beginning after October 1, 1988, a scholarship may be
awarded for not more than 6 semesters or its equivalent in
trimesters, quarters or terms of graduate education, or the
equivalent as determined by the authority for less than full-time
but more than half-time students. Money shall not be appropriated
for purposes of this subsection for any fiscal year unless the
amount appropriated under this act for that fiscal year for state
competitive scholarships for undergraduate education equals or
exceeds the amount appropriated for the state competitive
scholarship program for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1987.
(5) A residual scholarship shall be awarded to a qualifying
applicant who does not receive an initial scholarship award, but
who may be eligible for an award later in the year or during an
academic year when initial recipients relinquish their scholarship
awards.
(6) Scholarships, renewal scholarships, and residual
scholarships under this section are subject to the restrictions
described in section 4(3) and (4).
Sec. 6. (1) Each first-year scholarship is for a period of 1
academic year and the scholarship award shall not exceed the amount
of tuition and fees for the full academic year as reported by the
approved institution in which the applicant is enrolled, or an
amount as the authority finds appropriate in relation to the
applicant's own financial resources other than wages that may be
due the applicant for part-time work performed by the applicant
during the academic year, whichever is the lesser. For the purposes
of determining the dollar amount of the scholarship, the financial
resources of the applicant shall include the cash or equivalent
resources of the applicant's parents available for the
postsecondary education of the applicant, and allowance shall be
made for other members of the applicant's family enrolled in an
approved institution of postsecondary education, pursuant to rules
adopted by the authority. If the amount of appropriated funds is
insufficient to provide each student with the scholarship amount
for which the student is eligible, the authority shall establish a
maximum scholarship level for that academic year. Renewal
scholarships shall not be less than the initial first-year
scholarship awards unless predicated by changes in student or
family financial resources.
(2) Scholarships and renewal scholarships under this section
are subject to the restrictions described in section 4(3) and (4).
Sec. 10. (1) The authority may accept gifts, grants, bequests,
donations and devises, from whatever sources, of real, personal or
mixed property and moneys for the purposes described in this act.
The authority shall prepare an annual report of all gifts, grants,
bequests, donations and devises for the governor and the
legislature.
(2) On September 30, 2007, any restricted funds or other money
held by the authority for purposes of this act shall revert to the
general fund.
Sec. 11. (1) Four scholarships shall be allotted to each class
"A" high school, 3 to each class "B" high school, 2 to each class
"C" high school, and 1 to each class "D" high school. Scholarships
allotted to a high school shall be awarded to those students having
the highest competitive examination score and otherwise meeting all
eligibility requirements of this act, including that of
demonstrating financial need. The awarding of scholarships through
this procedure shall be implemented only after sufficient
additional funds are appropriated so as to not displace any student
eligible for an award through the other awarding procedures
established by this act.
(2) The remaining scholarships shall be awarded on a
statewide, competitive basis.
(3) Scholarships awarded under this section are subject to the
restrictions described in section 4(3) and (4).
Enacting section 1. 1964 PA 208, MCL 390.971 to 390.981, is
repealed effective October 1, 2007.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6680(request no.
01102'07) of the 94th Legislature is enacted into law.