Reps. David Law, Anderson, Ball, Bieda, Booher, Brandenburg, Brown, Caul, Clack, Condino, Espinoza, Farrah, Gillard, Gleason, Gonzales, Hansen, Jones, Kolb, Kooiman, Kathleen Law, Lemmons, Jr., Marleau, Meyer, Miller, Mortimer, Murphy, Nitz, Palmer, Palsrok, Pearce, Plakas, Polidori, Proos, Sak, Shaffer, Sheltrown, Stakoe, Tobocman, Vagnozzi, Vander Veen, Waters and Zelenko offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 271.

A resolution to memorialize the United States Congress to reverse the planned cuts in the Pell Grant program.

Whereas, Since 1972, federal Pell Grants have enabled the children of low-income and working-class Americans to enter college and achieve the American dream. About a third of Americans in college, some 5.3 million students, receive grants from the $13 billion program.  The average grant of $2,400 per year takes a bite out of the rapidly rising college tuition bills that currently average over $5,000 for a public four-year college. Add the cost of fees, room, and board, and the price more than doubles; and

Whereas, The federal Department of Education has recalculated the eligibility formulas by using 2002 tax rates instead of the 1990 rates.  Congress allowed this revision in an omnibus spending bill which the American Council of Education estimates will affect all 1.3 million students receiving grants, including 90,000 who will not get any money at all in the coming year.  While the change will save the government $300 million annually, an estimated 90% of the students receiving these grants are from families earning less than $35,000 per year. The grant reductions will increasingly squeeze middle-income families trying to send their children to college; and

Whereas, Even assuming that the 2002 tables are more up-to-date than the 1990 tables, changes in state taxation levels since 2002 may make even the updated tables misleading.  The bigger picture is that Pell Grants cover only a small portion of the college education bill.  With costs rising rapidly, more families who could only barely afford this vital path to prosperity may find that their hopes of climbing up another rung on the economic ladder must be postponed another generation. In our rapidly changing economy where education is the key to adapting, we should not hinder the chance of young people to pursue the American dream; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we memorialize the United States Congress to reverse the planned cuts in the Pell Grant program; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.