Amendment ties money to scholarships

State Representative Harold James (D-Phila.) has proposed an amendment to a state House spending bill that would freeze any state funding the University might receive until it increases the number of Mayor's Scholarships it awards. James, one of the University's most outspoken critics on the scholarship issue, proposed the amendment because he thinks the University is trying to delay scholarship discussions. "I think they're stalling, until after the budget's passed," James said Tuesday night, suggesting the University would then feel less beholden to him and other area state representatives. "That's why I went with the amendment." Executive Vice President Marna Whittington disputed that assertion yesterday. "That's difficult for me to understand because we've been working diligently to get this solved and meeting periodically on where we are," she said. It is not clear how much support the amendment has among legislators. Asked about the feedback he has received, James said only that concern about the scholarship issue "is shared by several other people." The Mayor's Scholarships dispute centers around the number of scholarships the University is required to award Philadelphians in return for nearly 47 acres of rent-free city land the University received decades ago. James and other representatives support a class-action lawsuit against the University, now pending in Common Pleas Court, that claims the University's 125 annual scholarships fall short of the 500 awards that a 1977 city ordinance allegedly requires. The amendment signals an increased effort by James to further link the University's precarious $37.6 million in state aid to a resolution of the scholarship battle. In January, 20 members of the Philadelphia House delegation -- including James and House Appropriations chairman Dwight Evans -- signed a letter to President Sheldon Hackney saying "it would be very difficult" for them to fight for the funding unless the University increased its scholarship commitment. The University has met several times recently with area state representatives to discuss the Mayor's Scholarships program and make "confidential proposals," according to James, but little progress has been made. James said he is not satisfied because University officials have not "put anything in writing" supporting the proposals and have "clouded the issue" by intertwining financial aid and the Mayor's Scholarships in the discussions. James Roebuck (D-Phila.) echoed James' complaint that the University has not been specific enough in the discussions. "There is a lack of precision in some of the proposals, a lack of definite, hard numbers," Roebuck said. "We've had a fair amount of discussion, but not a lot of hard, fast things you can grab hold of." But Whittington wondered why state representatives have "tied the state appropriation to an issue that we have in the city with the mayor." "Although they are not a party to the contract, [some representatives] seem to be having a real difficulty with the discussions that we're having with the city leadership." The amendment comes as negotiators from the House and Senate are working furiously to reach a spending agreement by the June 30 deadline. Although three of the four legislative caucuses in Harrisburg support funding the University at 90 percent or more of last year's $37.6 million level, it is too early to tell how the University will fare in this year's budget. And Gov. Robert Casey, who proposed eliminating the University's state aid on philosophical grounds in his own budget proposal in February, has the power to line item veto any funding for the University. Casey spokesperson Sue Grimm said Casey has not yet decided if he will veto funding for the University. But she added, "We have not changed our position that we feel funding for those schools should be eliminated."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.