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Committee reviews bill to narrow HOPE scholarship drug disqualification to exclude marijuana
Summary
Representative Bell introduced a bill to amend state law so marijuana offenses would no longer automatically bar students from HOPE scholarship eligibility; sponsors said the proposal mirrors recent federal Pell changes and would retain disqualifications for other controlled substances.
Representative Bell told the House Higher Education Committee that HB 206 would limit the state’s postsecondary drug-disqualification provisions so that marijuana-related offenses would no longer automatically render a student ineligible for state scholarship aid.
The sponsor said the change tracks a recent federal change to Pell Grant eligibility and that the earlier state statute — described in testimony as the “drug-free postsecondary education act of 1990” —…
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