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Bill Ties Bright Futures To Living, Working In Florida
December 13, 2012
A House Republican filed a bill Wednesday that would require future recipients of Bright Futures scholarships to reimburse the state if they do not graduate or if they go to work outside of Florida.
The bill (HB 35), filed by Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, would take effect with students who receive their initial Bright Futures scholarships during the 2014-15 academic year. It says, in part, that Bright Futures “shall serve as an incentive for students to remain and work in the state after graduation.” It would require recipients of the scholarships to submit information each year about proof of residence and employment in Florida.
“A student who receives an award, but who does not graduate or complete the program for which the award was received or who no longer resides in the state after graduation or program completion, must reimburse the state for the amount of the award received or a prorated portion thereof,” the bill says.
The state Department of Education would come up with procedures if money is not reimbursed. The bill includes some exceptions, such as for Bright Futures recipients who go on active duty in the military. They would be considered employed in Florida, regardless of where they are located.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
17 Responses to “Bill Ties Bright Futures To Living, Working In Florida”
@David Huie Green
I used the term government handout in a stereotypical sense. And you are correct, it technically is a handout.
As with any governement program, the requirements may change from year to year. For a fact sheet of current requirements visit http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/BF.htm
REGARDING:
“I am a bright future recipient and it is definitely not a “government handout.” It is funded by the billions of dollars acquired from the purchase of lottery tickets”
I like the program and hope it continues as long as people gamble in Florida. Nonetheless, I don’t see why you don’t consider it a government handout.
The state government does provide the money.
Yes, it has restrictions, good restrictions but most governmental assistance programs do too. We can easily call it a reward for good work, but the money was not earned as an hourly wage or as a sale. It was handed to you because you qualified. The state did not have to set up Bright Futures scholarships but it was the most useful expenditure I can think of.
The only thing I can figure is that you consider all government handouts to be bad things and since it is a good thing, it must not be a government handout. Let’s relook at the basic premise: maybe some government handouts are good things. This doesn’t mean that all, but that some might be since you and we all benefited from yours.
David for good things
I am a bright future recipient and it is definitely not a “government handout.” It is funded by the billions of dollars acquired from the purchase of lottery tickets. You have to work hard to maintain a GPA of at least 3.5, not to mmention the community service requirements. So, I worked hard in highschool knowing my parents may not be able to afford to send me to college. Not to mention the nine extracurricular activities and three jobs. I graduated college; Thanks to bright futures, hard work, and multiple jobs. I currently work full time for the government. Even though bright futures helped earn my bachelors, the graduate school was paid for by me.
Please note, if a student does meet the demanding requirements of bright futures, they lose their scholarship. With bright futures you are placed on academic probation the first semester you do not maintain the GPA requirements. And, two semesters in a row, say goodbye to the scholarship. There are several checks and balances currently in place, so it is not like these students are able to go 4 years and skate by.
An example, I have a friend who’s parents paid for his college education. They refinanced their house, ate ramen noodles, and sold off their hard earned luxuries to send him through college. He flunked out two colleges before earning a 6 year bachelors degree. He does not use his degree in political science and manages a grocery store.
So, I ask if you are parent who paid for children’s college education did they maintain high GPAs, did they graduate, and are they productive members of society? Hopefully, they are and I hope they consider themselves lucky, because most parents may not be able to afford this luxury.
@Recipient, thank you for enlighting mom.
@mom, since you feel you can call me out, let me just inform you about me since you think you know about my life. Both me and my husband are college educated and both work and pay taxes and don’t get a hand out from NO ONE LET ALONE YOU. So don’t you ever thing you have given me and mine anything. My son earned that scholarship by making very good grades and scoring well on his ACTs and WE yes WE meaning me and his dad cover this rest thank you.
I thought GOP was for less government and more personal freedom. Leave bright futures alone and stop stealing the lotto money that funds it.
CONSIDERING:
“To add insult to injury, the whole program is financed by the poor who buy lottery tickets disproportionately more often than their well-heeled counterparts. This amounts to a wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy as a direct result of government intervention.”
True, but at least they voluntarily gave up the money by way of their gambling. Maybe they gambled out of desperation and that makes it a tax on fools since it makes them even MORE desperate but at least they were happy while hoping for millions of unearned dollars.
(In fact, this is probably why their well-heeled counterparts are relatively well-heeled, they didn’t waste their money so foolishly. You can‘t force people do act wisely, although it is a shame the state encourages them to act foolishly.)
David for dropping the idea
and just considering
Bright Futures a reward
for good past performance
to encourage good performance
from others in the future
@Recipient, Good for you, you are right on the money. Keep working hard and being succesful!
@ MOM, I’m glad that you had the ability to pay for your kid/kids to go to school. I told mine from the time that they were in 5th grade that if college was in their future, they would have to work for it. Bright Futures currently allows children to set a goal and acheive it. Recipient did a great job of outlining the requirements. Bright Futures is not a “need” based government handout. This is exactly what should be happening in education, reward kids who work hard and achieve. Don’t lower the standards because some kids “can’t get a 3.5″.
If you want rules guidelines and restrictions, we could have a conversation about welfare, food stamps and medicaid, were mediocrity and poor family planning skills are rewarded with extra income.
@Mom
For the sake of reducing to the obsurd:
I must assume that since you paid ALL of the tuition that you home schooled your children and did not let them attend a public college. For that matter, do they use public highways? Do they dial 911 in case of emergency?
Bright futures is a Lottery funded grant.
Funded by the poor for the poor.
To mom:
Your comment makes no sense. That point of your comment was to brag about how you paid your child’s way. Therefore, good for you. However, being a recipient of the Bright Futures Scholarship in 2005, it was NOT a government handout. It was an earned scholarship that included 100+ hours of community volunteering, a score of above 24 on the ACT, and a GPA of 3.5 or better. You tell me that the GOVERNMENT handed me that money, and I tell you you’re a fool. Why don’t you research behind these programs before you go off on a rant?
to MOM
Isn’t bright futures money funded by the lottery? I don’t consider that government money!
Is the state planning on guaranteeing these kids a job or should they sit around unemployed for a particular length of time before they can move somewhere to secure employment? I think this particular politician should put forth an effort to improve our state’s economic standing before penalizing kids for having to go elsewhere for a job.
To TW,
When you take money from the government, the government can tell you what to do.
It IS their money, not yours. I do not know why people feel that it is THEIR money. The government took from me, to give to you. I had NO choice to decide where my money should go. We have paid ALL the tuition of our children and took no money from anyone. There will always be guidelines and rules and restrictions when you take from government.Don’t expect a handout without restrictions.
As a parent of a son who is a recipient of the Bright Future Scholarship I don’t feel like he should be forced to live in Florida after he graduates. He is attending a University in Florida, therefore the money is staying in Florida. I too would like to know how long will he be forced to live and work in Florida after he graduates?
If they can’t find a job or one that is in their field or that pays well. Then they can just go on handouts. We want the economy to grow so let these kids live and work where they can make the most out of their degree.
As for completion of the program, what kind of schedule are they looking at? Does the degree need to be finished in four years? When does the student start paying it back? If they attend one semester in the Fall, must they start paying that money back if they are not enrolled in the Spring after the drop/add period ends? Will the state charge interest? If so, what kind of rates are they looking at? If they aren’t planning on charging interest, why not? I mean, you do want that sweet, delicious money back, don’t you?
I am sure this person is getting big ups from some of the really conservative crowd, but this bill is going to require more government spending to hire people to keep track of who is and who is not enrolled and when. The state will have to hire people to send out bills, collect payments, and do all the other various and sundry legwork that comes with keeping track of the behavior of a large group of people spread across Florida.
The worst part about this proposed legislation is that it puts up a barrier to class mobility. For some, the difference between going to college or getting a job with a high school diploma is the Bright Futures program. The ones that have the most to gain are the ones that will take the biggest hit from this bill. The reasons that people need to take a break from school are numerous and varied. Pregnancy, illness, a death in the family, and financial constraints all come to mind. A student that comes from a financially secure and supportive family is less likely to race headlong into financial distress so great that they need to work 70+ hours a week. A student that comes from a financially secure and supportive family may be able to have a child while balancing a full time load of classes because they are less likely to need to hold a job. If this bill is not written for these kinds of real world issues, it won’t make good law because it isn’t based on good policy.
To add insult to injury, the whole program is financed by the poor who buy lottery tickets disproportionately more often than their well-heeled counterparts. This amounts to a wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy as a direct result of government intervention.
If you quit for no good reason then pay it back. I surmise that most of the people that quit the program or move do so because “life happened”. These people are poor already and thus have fewer choices than most of us do.
I’d like to see the politicians work on something meaningful like restoring the money that was taken out of education when the lottery started. The lottery was sold to us as a boon to education and would greatly enhance the education budget. In reality the education budget funding was cut to offset the lottery revenue.
The Republicans show me every day why I left the Party. They’d rather walk two blocks to kick a poor man than stand still and give him a dime.
I can understand the idea about not completing/graduating a collegiate program after receiving the award, but there certainly needs to be a limit on residing in the state. For instance, what if a graduate cannot find a job in Florida after graduation and has to move out of state? Is that graduate going to be penalized for going to work in a different state and using Bright Futures as his/her stepping stone to prepare for future employment? How long would this “penalty” be in effect?