Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community College Tuition topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House education committee forwards bill to raise community college tuition cap to House floor
Summary
The House Committee on Education voted to send House Bill 79 to the full House with a "do pass" recommendation. The bill would raise the statutory cap on community college tuition from $2,500 to $3,250; the committee heard fiscal and policy context from the bill sponsor but received no public testimony.
BOISE — The House Committee on Education voted Monday to send House Bill 79 to the full House with a “do pass” recommendation. The bill, presented by Representative Lance Clow, would raise the statutory tuition cap for community colleges from $2,500 to $3,250.
Representative Lance Clow, District 25, told the committee the change is a modest increase from a cap last set in 2008 and is aimed at giving locally governed community college boards additional revenue flexibility. “What we're requesting is we increase the cap from $2,500 to 3,250,” Clow said during his presentation.
Clow said the bill would not alter a separate state-code restriction that prevents community colleges from raising tuition by more than 10% in any single year. He also summarized the fiscal note provided to the committee, saying the colleges would likely average smaller percentage increases than the new cap allows and that the aggregate additional tuition revenue across Idaho’s four community colleges is estimated at about $1.5 million in the first year.
There was brief supportive comment from Representative Jim Nelson, who said rising local labor-market wages have made hiring and retaining community college staff more difficult and that the cap increase would help colleges respond. No members of the public registered to testify.
Representative Joe Garner moved that the committee send House Bill 79 to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; committee minutes record a voice “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.
The bill will move next to the House floor for further consideration. The committee did not take a roll-call vote on the bill; the record shows a voice vote and no individual tallies were provided.
