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Senate advances Cesar Chavez scholarship bill after clarifying federal funding and allocation language
Summary
Senate Bill 40 would create a Cesar Chavez scholarship within UCOPE funded initially by federal grants; the Senate adopted an amendment changing an allocation phrase from "at least 10%" to "up to 10%" to avoid obligating state funds and moved the bill forward to third reading.
Senator James Evans described Senate Bill 40 as a companion to SB 39 that would create a Cesar Chavez scholarship within the state's UCOPE financial-aid program. "What Senate Bill 40 does is it creates the Cesar Chavez Scholarship within UCOPE," Evans said, explaining that the Bill relies on a U.S. Department of Education appropriation of $250,000 per year for four years rather than a state appropriation for the initial period.
Evans told colleagues that the Department of Education had indicated willingness to fund the program for four years and that a letter from Utah's congressional delegation supporting the request was on the members’ desks. He said the program’s sole statutory eligibility requirement would be financial: students from families with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Floor debate focused on a drafting problem on line 178 that read the Board "shall allocate at least 10%" to the program. Senator Evans moved a one-word amendment to replace "at least" with "up to" to ensure the Board of Regents would not be required to transfer state dollars beyond the federal appropriation. The Senate adopted the amendment by voice vote.
Senators discussed parliamentary strategy for advancing SB 40 and several members arranged procedural votes and leave to be added after the roll. The amendment and the sponsor’s clarifications cleared the way for the bill to be placed on the third-reading calendar.
