ND Legislative Update for February 4th, 2013

Greetings North Dakota ASPIRE Members,  Now that the 2013 North Dakota Legislature is beginning its fourth week in session, below are some highlights on several bills of interest to ND TRIO programs and the students whom we serve. The deadline is now past for introducing new bills, however, ND constitutional amendments and study resolutions may be introduced through February 26^th.  March 1^st is the crossover deadline, when bills originating in the House must be completed and sent to the Senate, and vice versa. SB 2003 (Senate Bill 2003), the main appropriations bill for the North Dakota University System (NDUS) is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Two provisions of interest include a $2.2 million increase for the needs-based North Dakota State Grant to increase the cap from $1500 to $1650 per year, and to expand the program to include part-time students.  The NDUS has also included a $3.7 million to increase the merit-based Career and Technical Education and Academic Scholarship limits to $2500 per year with a cap of $10, 000 per student. SB 2200 is also being debated in  Senate Appropriations.  This bill outlines the new funding formula for NDUS institutions which is based on the number of credit hours students complete.  The formula gives a higher weight to credits earned based on the course level, and also gives higher weights to credits earned in high cost programs such as engineering.  Please refer to the bill here for complete description of this new funding model. HB 1303 (House Bill 1303), a bill to provide an appropriation to the state board of higher education to provide grants to establish summer residential college preparatory academies on NDUS campuses was introduced by Representative Corey Mock from Grand Forks on behalf of North Dakota ASPIRE.  ND ASPIRE President, Lori Larson and Derek Sporbert spoke in support of the bill before the House Education Committee on January 30^th.   The only information available about the bills status to date is that it was amended in committee.  More information will be shared about this bill as it becomes available. Testimony on HB 1328, a bill to freeze tuition at NDUS institutions at spring 2013 rates was heard by the House Education Committee on January 30^th.  More information about the status of this bill will be shared once it becomes available. Have a great week. Mary Fredricks,  ND ASPIRE State Initiative