ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280076
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
A program that helps poor students with their college expenses would get increased funding under a budget proposal by President Clinton, congressional and administration officials confirmed Monday.
Under the plan some money would be shifted from tuition tax credits to Pell grants, raising the yearly amount available per student from $2,700 to $3,000. More students would become eligible as well.
Clinton plans to discuss the proposal at a news conference today. The plan is part of a larger budget proposal for the 1998 fiscal year that would raise federal education spending to $29billion from $26.3billion this year.
The budget includes funding for proposals, many previously announced, that include increased support for schools trying to raise academic standards, a volunteer tutoring program to help 3 million children learn to read and financial help to build or repair school buildings.
The Pell grant proposal modifies a cornerstone proposal to make college tuition more affordable by offering families tax credits of up to $1,500 a year for the first two years of college. Clinton had dubbed the credits ``HOPE Scholarships.'' A companion proposal would give $10,000 in tax deductions. The combined credit and deduction plans are projected to cost $44billion over six years.
Critics, including some House Republicans, said the tax plan would benefit middle-income families more than poorer ones.
The credit is available to single tax filers earning less than $70,000 a year and joint filers with incomes under $100,000.
The Pell grant funding is increased by shifting money that otherwise would have been refunded to taxpayers under the HOPE scholarship proposal. Under the HOPE plan, for instance, a family that qualified for the $1,500 credit but only earned enough to pay $1,000 in taxes would get a $500 refund from the government and not pay the $1,000 tax bill.
Working out refunds is hard work for the Internal Revenue Service, and the money comes too late in the year for many poorer families to benefit. The grants would make the money available sooner.
``Getting the credit doesn't help you when you have to pay the tuition,'' said Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. He said he was pleased by the proposal but still planned to introduce a bill Tuesday that would raise the yearly Pell grant to $5,000.
``I want to make sure there is a focus on the Pell grant program,'' he said.
The Department of Education has budgeted $6.4 billion for Pell grants this year to reach 3.6 million people.
The education budget proposal would also:
* Increases funding by 26 percent, to $620 million for Goals 2000, a program to help school districts raise educational standards.
* Provides $5 billion over four years to help cover half the interest that districts must pay for school construction. The administration says the proposal would generate $20 billion in construction - an increase of 25 percent.
* Earmarks $2.75 billion over five years for ``America Reads,'' funding the work of 30,000 reading specialists and volunteer coordinators. One million volunteers would help more than 3 million children after school, over the weekends and through the summer.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB