college tuition – Sandy Rosenberg

Similar agendas, Crossing the Governor and the bridge

“Mr. Obama plans to campaign in 2014 for universal preschool, an increase in the minimum wage and an administration effort to make college less expensive for the middle class,” reports the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/us/politics/obama.html

So do I.

Last year, Senator Ferguson and I introduced legislation creating a competitive grant program to stimulate innovation and expand access to high-quality early childhood education. This year, the O’Malley-Brown administration will sponsor similar legislation.

“For every dollar invested today [in pre-K], savings range from $2.50 to as much as $17 in the years ahead,” concluded an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The minimum wage sets a fair standard for working Marylanders. An increase will move people over the poverty line and stimulate the economy.

I met with labor lobbyists today to strategize and count votes.

Academic debt for college and graduate school tuition limits career choices and the budgets of young families. I am working on legislation to eliminate tuition at a campus or graduate school of the University of Maryland system.

Graduates would be obligated to pay a pre-determined portion of their income for a certain number of years, basing their cost of college on their ability to pay.

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If you’re following the scandal over the decision to limit access to the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, NJ because its mayor did not endorse Governor Christie’s re-election, you know that the mayor said that the Christie-appointed executive who did the deed “deserves an a—kicking.”

Christie’s crony is lucky. Tony Soprano would have whacked him.

Getting the numbers right early

August 13, 2013August 13, 2013 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Inside baseball can make the difference between winning or losing a game.
Or passing or losing a bill in Annapolis.

Every bill gets a fiscal note.

It’s our budget staff’s best judgment as to the cost to implement the legislation.

A high fiscal note and your bill is dead.

If the bureaucracy does not like what you’re proposing, its estimate of the cost will be on the high side.

You are not powerless. You can make your case to the fiscal note writer about the projected costs before the note is distributed at the bill hearing.

Or you can ask for the equivalent of a fiscal note months before your bill is introduced.

If the cost of the Oregon tuition plan (students pay after graduation based on their income) is sky high, any bill won’t go anywhere.

That’s why I asked our professional staff to do a pre-fiscal note fiscal note.

The response raises important questions about both cost and implementation. For example, Who will monitor repayments from alumni and how will noncompliance be addressed? Could students opt out of the program and pay regular tuition?

Better to respond to those concerns now than next February.

In the room

August 5, 2013August 5, 2013 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I want to be in the room when decisions are being made on my bills.

That means the bill hearing and voting session, which are open to the public, and the pre-meeting meeting of my committee’s leadership before the votes are cast, which is not public.

If the bill is not in my committee, I want a co-sponsor who will make the case for the bill and warn me of any problems that arise. Sometimes, I will ask that colleague to be the lead sponsor, and I will be the co-sponsor.

I also want people in the room when I’m drafting a bill who will be able to get it passed or funded.

Last month, I wrote about a new Oregon law that would allow students to attend state colleges without paying tuition or taking out traditional loans. Instead, they would commit 3% of their future income for 20 years to repaying the state.

I’ve asked that similar legislation be drafted.

Support from within the higher education system is crucial for my legislation to be adopted. A significant policy change of this nature will not pass over their objections.

I now have at least one such supporter. We scheduled a meeting to discuss the details.

Then I learned that another executive branch official was interested in this idea but would be out of town the day of our meeting.

We’re rescheduling the meeting.

I want this person in the room.