Jump Start Scholarship Bill Reconsidered, Passed
Air Date:03/01/2011
By Kealey Bultena
South Dakota’s Senators have reconsidered and passed a bill that creates a jump start scholarship.
Last week, lawmakers shot down the measure to offer a $2,000 scholarship to students who graduate high school in three years and attend an in-state school. But Senators took up the bill again. Supporters like Senator Cooper Garnos say the program would benefit students and the state.
"Students start here, they stay here. They stay in our communities, they build businesses, build families, they build communities. They build South Dakota," Garnos says. "Indiana is one state that has done this. I did a little research on it. It wasn’t big dollar amounts there, either. It was two/three thousand dollars one time shot. But you know what those kids said? They said, yeah, the money wasn’t that big a deal, but what they said is our state cared for us and they want us to stay here. It was just that little olive branch back to them. They were appreciated. They were wanted. They were recognized. Big picture, guys."
Opponents like Senator Jean Hunhoff say the bill creates a new program for higher education and uses K-12 money to fund it. The Senate passed the legislation 25 to 9.
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