Millennium Scholarship help sought

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Democrats are gearing up to introduce their own bill to save the cash-strapped Millennium Scholarship.

It would use $100 million in excess state money to fund the scholarship for the next 10 years, said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas.

The measure, set to be introduced today, is slightly different than the plan announced by Gov. Kenny Guinn in February.

Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said legislators and Guinn agree that the scholarship needs help.

"At the end of the day, the governor's confident that the deal he has put together with leadership in the Assembly and the Senate is one that will go forward," Bortolin said.

The scholarship, which gives tuition money to Nevada high school graduates with at least a B average, recently has been facing monetary woes. More students are using it, and the money from the tobacco settlement that funds the scholarship has decreased.

The scholarship is expected to be at least $73 million in the hole by 2010.

So far this session, a variety of bills relating to the Millennium Scholarship have been stuck in the Democratic-controlled Assembly Ways and Means Committee, including a bill from Treasurer Brian Krolicki, a Republican and announced candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006.

Both Giunchigliani and Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said the decision to create one omnibus bill to fund the scholarship had nothing to do with politics.

"It's policy, policy, policy," said Giunchigliani, the vice chairwoman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

The Democratic bill would direct the $100 million as a one-shot infusion into the scholarship, Giunchigliani said. It would also put fewer restrictions on Millennium scholars than Guinn's solution did.

Guinn wanted to stop Millennium funds from going toward summer-school classes and toward students taking more than 12 credits.

But Assembly Democrats argue that scholarship money is capped at $10,000 anyway, so students should be able to take extra classes if it means they get out of school earlier.

The bill also would take administration of the project from the Treasurer's office and give it to the Board of Regents, Giunchigliani said.

Krolicki said he doesn't mind which program the Legislature picks, just as long as it makes the scholarship solvent for about a decade.

The plan outlined by the governor would have taken $32 million from the surplus and $8 million a year from unclaimed property.

But it also would have trimmed about $10 million a year from the program by limiting the number of credits students could take, Krolicki said.

"That $10 million reduction is just as critical as the new funding," he said. "Obviously if we can reduce the rate of consumption it makes the program last longer."

Several bills, including Krolicki's, would have required students to file federal Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) to be eligible for the scholarship.

But some Democrats, including Giunchigliani, balked, saying it would prevent students who don't have social security numbers from having the scholarship.

The Democratic bill does not address the issue of the FAFSA, Giunchigliani said.

Another bill to require students to perform at least 20 hours of community service before receiving the scholarship died in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Giunchigliani said she would be willing to work with the sponsor of the bill, Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, on incorporating that idea into the Democratic bill.