TEA PARTY CONVERSATIONS: H.O.P.E. FOR A BALANCED BUDGET

BY JASON SPENCER

As the old saying goes, “The property of no one is safe while the Georgia General Assembly is in session!” Lock up your cows, chickens, dogs and anything else you deem precious.

But with all sarcasm aside, the Georgia General Assembly will convene on January 10, 2011, and I will be one of the thirty-five freshmen in the House of Representatives entering in to one of the most challenging budget years in recent memory. I am confident we will be the most unpopular group of people in the entire state. There will be hard choices to make this session and difficult votes to cast, and no one will like all of them. Most likely, there will be no sacred cow in the state budget spared from cuts.

While I have much to learn about protocol, rules and other formalities, I have noticed a few things and have been briefed on a few issues that are sure to be front and center at the beginning of the session. First, let’s discuss the HOPE scholarship crisis. Whatever the decision will be to continue to preserve this perceived merit based scholarship, which has now turned into an entitlement for any student graduating from a Georgia high school, is sure to bring college students and angry parents to the capitol steps with protest signs demanding to protect the program and keep tuition costs low.

On a personal note, I will probably be one of the few legislators in the assembly that was actually awarded the scholarship during my undergraduate years. While I graduated from high school with a 3.0 the year the first award was given in 1993, I was not eligible to receive the scholarship because an income cap existed. So, HOPE was not always a merit based scholarship. There was a needs-based component to eligibility. After I financed my first two years of college through loans and other scholarships, the income cap was removed. Maintaining my GPA at a 3.0 during college allowed me to become eligible to receive HOPE to finance the final two years of undergraduate education. My point: I did not get the first two years of my education for free, nor did I feel entitled to receive this scholarship.

Today, HOPE has morphed into an entitlement program and students are told that if you just have a “B” average you can go to college “free” in Georgia. Fact: In 1993, there were approximately 42,000 recipients with a total award of $21.4 million and in 2010, there were over 200,000 recipients with a total award of $394 million. An unintended consequence of the HOPE scholarship has been tremendous pressure put on teachers and school systems to contribute to grade inflation; therefore, producing a diluted “B” average. Furthermore, this inflationary pressure turns out more students becoming eligible for the award. The grade inflation coming from the high school level is evident by the fact that a large number (about 50%) of entering freshman lose HOPE during their first year of college because they can not maintain a “collegiate” GPA of 3.0.

One of the many solutions I “hope” is considered is to start HOPE after the first semester of college. Maybe this would help save the program money by weeding out those with inflated grades. Also, HOPE should never be paying for remedial course work. If one has to take remedial course work in college on a scholarship, is one truly a scholar?

While HOPE is certainly going to be a tough issue for the Assembly, other issues will be just as hot to deal with. Educators are bracing themselves for another round of cuts in the state’s budget. With 58% of the state’s $17 billion budget devoted to education, cuts are likely to strike at this portion again in this session. Not only will educators be looking at more cuts, they will be hit with possible pay-for-performance legislation which is one of the conditions needed to win a Federal government Race to the Top award. The win of $400 million to “improve” education is just another “strings attached” power grab from the federal government to control education in Georgia.

Tackling a projected state budget shortfall of $2 billion will be no easy feat. The only Constitutionally mandated job of the legislature is to produce a balanced budget. While major issues like illegal immigration, rewriting the state tax code and how do deal with “Obamacare” provide much political background noise, the focus of the Assembly will be how to balance the budget. Taxpayers are keenly aware of the cuts that may come, and I believe are ready to deal with it. One thing taxpayers will not tolerate is more fees, hidden charges and tax increases. Taxpayers want to see meaningful cuts to the state budget. Also taxpayers want the state to change its tax code in order to foster business and job growth, which will be the main focus in what is to be a turbulent session.

Despite dealing with all of these issues, one dynamic that is interesting for me to be a part of is serving in the Republican caucus that has grown its majority substantially. Georgia was a one-party state of Democrats prior to 2002. After 2002, the state became a two-party state. Today, the two-party state has fallen and we are once again a one-party state, but controlled by the Republicans. From my perspective thus far, this Republican caucus seems to be less uniform and more ideologically diverse with that composition being a coalition of rural-suburban influences. On the other hand, the Democrats have been reduced to a pure and progressive minority mainly composed of urban white liberals and African-Americans. With the Democrats being reduced to its more “pure” ideological elements, some in the party are abandoning a sinking ship and jumping into the Republican caucus.

As an incoming conservative freshman, there will be much to learn, but learning how “the game” is to be played within my own caucus will be a skill I will soon have to master. Representing the people from the district will be challenging no doubt is a historic session, but the journey of doing such a task will be its reward.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jason Spencer is a Health Care professional in Southeastern Georgia and a leader in the TEA Party movement in the area. He also represents District #180 in the Georgia House of Representatives in Atlanta. His email address in Atlanta is jason.spencer@house.ga.gov and his new web page is www.staterepspencer.com . His articles are presented by THE CLARION ISSUE: Counter Editorials and Opinions on Current Events and Attitudes.