Bill Would Replace Lost Aid with State Funds
PROVIDENCE, RI – Rhode Island will be the first state to compensate students who have been denied federal financial aid because of drug convictions if a bill sponsored by Rep. Joseph Almeida wins approval in the General Assembly.
Since 1998, an obscure provision of the federal Higher Education Act (HEA) has blocked financial aid eligibility for more than 160,000 students with drug convictions on their records.
Rep. Almeida’s Higher Education Assistance Act of 2005, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Thomas Slater and Rep. Grace Diaz, would “provide Rhode Island residents full compensation for the amount the were denied for financial assistance under the 1998 Amendment to the Higher Education Act…” The bill number is H 6134.
“Pulling students out of school does nothing to keep them away from drugs and out of the criminal justice system,” said Micah Daigle of URI Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “It’s disturbing that states are forced to take action into their own hands while Congress fails to reinstate aid to deserving students.”
The URI Faculty and Student Senates, the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students, URI President Robert L. Carothers, Providence’s Family Life Center, and more than 180 organizations nationwide have called on Congress to reinstate aid eligibility to students with drug convictions. For a full list of organizations, visit www.raiseyourvoice.com/supporters.shtml.
Although Rhode Island is the first state to consider replacing lost federal aid with state funds, other states have recently taken action on this issue. Last year, Delaware’s General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Congress to repeal the financial aid ban. Last week, the Arizona House’s committee on K-12 Education passed a similar resolution that is expected to be voted on by the full body this week.
A bill to repeal the financial aid ban, the Removing Impediments to Students’ Education (RISE) Act, will be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives next Wednesday, May 9. Last year’s version of that bill garnered the support of 70 members of Congress, but neither member of Rhode Island’s House delegation signed on to the legislation.
In January, the congressionally-appointed Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance recommended that Congress remove the drug question from the financial aid application, calling it “irrelevant.”
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an organization with more than 100 college and high school chapters nationwide, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.
Interviews available. For more information, contact Micah Daigle of URI SSDP at (401) 829-0904 or Tom Angell of SSDP’s national office at (202) 557-4979 or tom@ssdp.org. Visit www.DAREgeneration.com.