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Senate trims living and miscellaneous allowance; members debate spreading reductions versus targeted cuts
Summary
The Senate proposed lowering the living and miscellaneous expense allowance used to calculate State Grant awards from 115% to 110% of federal poverty guidelines for a one‑person household, a change senators described as a modest, across‑the‑board adjustment.
The conference committee considered a Senate proposal to reduce the living and miscellaneous expense (LME) allowance used to calculate Minnesota State Grant awards from 115% to 110% of the federal poverty guidelines for a one‑person household over nine months.
Nonpartisan staff described the LME as the component of cost of attendance that, together with tuition and fees, determines the amount of a grant. “The change in the senate language … changes the default living and miscellaneous expense allowance for the state grant program, from 115 to 110% of the federal poverty guidelines for a 1 person household in Minnesota for 9 months,” said Mister Hopkins.
Senators said they adopted the reduction after earlier increases and described the move as a difficult but necessary choice to align program spending with available resources. The senator sponsor said the reduction was modest compared with earlier increases and still leaves the LME above prior levels.
Representatives and agency officials noted the change spreads a small reduction across all grant recipients: a staff number cited to members estimated the reduction at approximately $176 per year per recipient for a move to 110% in one scenario. Megan Flores of the Office of Higher Education said the governor’s recommendation also included lowering the LME and that the office recommended changes “across all students across the entire state regardless of 2 year, 4 year, or sector.”
Committee members said they would weigh a range of levers — some that spread modest reductions across many students and some that would target specific groups — as they reconcile conference positions. No statutory change was adopted at the hearing.
Committee witnesses, including university and system finance officials, acknowledged the LME change is one of several levers that can be used to manage overall grant spending, and they urged the committee to consider distributional effects together with other parameter changes.
