Governor presents lawmakers with plan for Millennium Scholarships

Jennifer Coleman

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 9:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Gov. Kenny Guinn made a rare appearance at the Legislature to push his plan to spend half of Nevada's $1.2 billion share of a national tobacco settlement on college scholarships.

While the plan met with less resistance from lawmakers than it had earlier, several citizens' groups opposed the Millennium Scholarship plan and said the money should go into health programs.

Guinn's plan calls for giving up to $1,250 for community college tuition or $2,500 for university fees to any Nevada high school graduate with a 3.0 grade point average enrolling in the state's higher education system.

"With half the money received from the tobacco settlement, we can pave the way for every high school graduate meeting the requirements to go to college for generations to come," Guinn told a joint budget committee Wednesday.

But Ed Finn of the American Association of Retired Persons protested giving such a large cut to scholarships. He suggested a third of the money for scholarships, with the rest for health care programs.

"Think about where this money comes from," he said, adding that members of his generation thought smoking was OK and subsidized the tobacco industry's profits.

Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada opposed the plan outright, saying all of the money needs to go to Nevada's ill-funded health programs.

Gilbert said leaders in 20 other states are advocating that the tobacco money be used to improve health care.

She was joined by representatives of the Nevada Disability Forum, Nevada Women's Lobby, Nevada Empowered Women's Project and other groups - all members of PLAN.

But a few key PLAN members weren't part of the 100 percent effort - including the state AFL-CIO, Culinary Workers and the Nevada State Education Association.

Representatives of the AFL-CIO and the culinary union supported Guinn, along with Elaine Lancaster of the Nevada State Education Association. But Lancaster said additional money to be given to students studying to become teachers.

Democrats had criticized Guinn's plan because it uses money they say was pledged to health care and anti-smoking programs. Their rival plan would spend a quarter of the money on scholarships. Two-thirds would go for health programs and the rest would be put in a trust fund.

But on Wednesday, Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Las Vegas, a harsh critic of SB496 last week, offered qualified support for the measure.

"We're encouraged there's additional accountability methods which were a concern," Perkins said, adding that the Democrats' plan and SB496 have more similarities than differences.

One sticking point that remains is means testing for applicants. Guinn wants every student with a 3.0 grade point average to be eligible.

Perkins says without means testing, the plan becomes a free ride for students from wealthy families.

The settlement with tobacco companies calls for $1.2 billion to be paid to Nevada over the next 25 years followed by annual payments in excess of $48 million to be paid indefinitely.