 Brady, who has sponsored legislation to abolish the statewide
program, said the lack of reform to the scholarship program and the
worsening fiscal challenges faced by the state and its universities
brought him to reconsider his participation in the program."While
at least in my case, these scholarships have always gone to worthy
and qualified students, another downgrade in the state's bond rating
last week and a lack of support for reforming or abolishing the
program from Democrats in the General Assembly have prompted me to
terminate awarding scholarships to students in my district," Brady
said. "In these difficult economic times for Illinois and our
colleges and universities, we must look at every opportunity to
maximize the use of our resources."
The 44th District senator noted that the House of Representatives
has passed legislation to abolish the program, but the
Democratic-controlled Senate has blocked the measure. Democrat leaders
of the General Assembly last year failed to address Gov. Pat Quinn's
veto of reforms to prevent awarding the scholarships to family
members. Quinn rewrote the bill to abolish the program.
"The program should be abolished, but short of Democrats agreeing
to that, the time has come for me to cease awarding tuition waivers,
despite the fact that they have enhanced the ability of many
students in my district to obtain a college education," Brady said.
Brady has not been involved in the selection of the scholarship
recipients in his district, giving that responsibility to a
committee of educators and community leaders who judged the
applications blindly and selected the recipients.
[Text from file sent on behalf
of
Sen.
Bill Brady by
Illinois Senate Republican staff] |
