SCICU legislative outlook from President and CEO Jeff Perez —

Education reform will be at the top of the SC General Assembly’s agenda during the 2019 legislative session, as will how to spend an additional $1 billion. Including independent higher education in these discussions will be a major part of SCICU’s 2019 advocacy efforts.

In recent sessions the General Assembly has tended to focus on one major issue. Last year, it was addressing SCANA and Santee Cooper’s abandonment of the multi-billion dollar VC Summer nuclear power generation plant. The session before the General Assembly was absorbed with passing an increase to the state gas tax.

There is wide agreement that reforming K-12 education will be at the top of this session’s priorities. During a pre-session meeting with reporters, senators and house members all mentioned the importance of addressing education needs. And in his inaugural address Governor McMaster stated: “We must also commit ourselves to providing the highest quality education for South Carolina’s children if we are to continue to compete in the future for jobs and economic prosperity.” And later, “Being perceived as weak in education is not good. But, being perceived as not committed to fixing it is disastrous. We will fix it…”

Our job will be to work for inclusion of higher education in this education discussion. A focus during this session will be S.298, the “Higher Education Opportunity Act,” sponsored by Senators Vincent Sheheen, Harvey Peeler and others. Sen. Sheheen first introduced this bill last year, and there is broad agreement it will receive significant attention. There is a lot in the bill, including allocating internet sales tax revenues for a special fund for the public universities, in return for which they must cap tuition. It would also bring South Carolina back to a 7-point GPA system, which would reduce the number of students who currently qualify for state merit scholarships. It also increases the CHE Needs-based Scholarship program (of which independent colleges and universities receive 16.5 percent), and setting it and the Tuition Grants Program on a schedule whereby they would receive annual increases matching the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) but no more than 2.75 percent in a year.

This bill is at square one – there will be hearings held that will no doubt result in revisions to S.298. SCICU will be following this bill very closely to ensure that it properly reflects the needs of students attending independent colleges and universities in South Carolina.

Also driving this year’s session is $1 billion dollars – that’s how much additional funding the General Assembly has at its disposal. About half is in non-recurring “one-time” monies that must be spent on facilities or debt reduction. The other half is recurring – once it’s in the budget, it stays in future budgets. Legislators will tell you having more money is harder than a deficit – it’s much easier to say “no” to everyone than try to decide who gets the additional resources. How that $1 billion will be spent will occupy much of the legislators’ attention.

There’s also a new leadership position in the Senate. Because of a change in the state constitution approved by voters in 2012, the lieutenant governor is no longer elected, and thus cannot serve as the President of the Senate and rule on points of order and other procedural matters.

Under new rules approved by the Senate, the position of President of the Senate will now be held by a senator, and the position of President Pro Tempore, previously held by Sen. Hugh Leatherman, has been eliminated. Under the new rules the President of the Senate cannot be a committee chair. Sen. Leatherman opted to remain chairman of the powerful Finance Committee. Sen. Harvey Peeler was unanimously elected the first President of the Senate, and will have a role in the appointments to state boards and commissions.

The wild card in this year’s session may be Santee Cooper, the other owner of the abandoned VC Summer nuclear plant. While the General Assembly no longer needs to deal with the sale of SCANA, the governor would like to sell state-owned Santee Cooper, which holds $4 billion in debt from the failed plant. While the General Assembly has set criteria for weighing proposed buyers, the fate of Santee Cooper employees, and the utility’s ownership of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie, would have to be addressed.

I look forward to representing SCICU this session and will provide you with updates as the session progresses.

COLUMBIA, SC — South Carolina House Representative Chandra Dillard urged advocates for South Carolina’s independent colleges and universities to keep tuition affordability front and center during the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

During her remarks at the December 7 Campus Legislative Coordinators Kickoff in Columbia, hosted by South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, Dillard (D-Greenville) stressed the value of the annual letter-writing campaign for highlighting the importance of state funding for need-based tuition grants and merit scholarships.

“Please do not underestimate the impact of thousands of students’ letters sent to legislators saying the same thing about tuition grants and state merit scholarships. This singular message will get the attention of legislators,” said Dillard.

SCICU President Jeffrey Perez noted the importance of state support for the nearly three-quarters of students at independent colleges and universities who call South Carolina home.

“About 50 percent of our students are eligible for federal Pell Grants, meaning they are among the most economically disadvantaged, and fully 95 percent receive some form of financial aid,” said Perez. “So many of our students participate in the letter-writing campaign because they know first-hand that state support for them is the difference between staying focused on academic success and being distracted by financial concerns.”

Dillard also warned that state legislators will have a full plate and keeping them focused on student needs should be a top priority.

“Getting the attention of your legislators is important, as there are many other major issues lining up for the 2019 session,” said Dillard.

The annual letter-writing campaign is timed to coincide with the cycle of budget hearings in the South Carolina General Assembly. Legislators will receive thank-you letters from students while they are deciding upon fiscal year 2019-2020 funding for tuition grants and state merit scholarships.

2018 Letter-Writing Campaign Results

Over 7,300 letters were written by SC independent college students to SC legislators in last year’s letter-writing campaign. With 1,762 letters written, Anderson University won the contest for most letters written to legislators.

Erskine College and Allen University again tied for the highest percentage of tuition grants recipients writing thank-you letters to legislators. Both Erskine and Allen are to be commended for having 100% of their respective tuition grants recipients participating in the 2018 Legislative Letter-Writing Campaign.

2019 Legislative Plan for State Financial Aid Funding

During the meeting, Perez presented the following 2019 legislative priorities related to state-funded aid for in-state students attending private colleges in South Carolina:

• Increase the maximum tuition grant per student to $3,450 ($150 increase over previous year), which would require an additional $1.903 million in state funding for the SC Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission.
• Full funding for state merit scholarships (Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, HOPE, and Lottery Tuition Assistance) to all eligible students.
• $1.5 million increase in need-based scholarships for the SC Commission on Higher Education (CHE). If CHE’s request for additional funding is approved, approximately $247,500 in additional funding would flow to the Tuition Grants Commission.

SCICU’s 2019 Legislative Strategic Plan and Legislative Priorities and Quick Facts are available on the SCICU website.

2019 Independent College and University Day

The annual letter-writing campaign will wrap up prior to the 2019 Independent College and University Day scheduled for April 10. On this day, students from SCICU’s 20 member colleges and universities will gather for a rally at the State House and meet with their legislators.