It's scholarship money available to every student in Maryland. And in these tough times, more and more people are asking for legislative scholarships. The program gives lawmakers the power to award millions. But as ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman found out, some believe that power needs to be pulled back.
Frederick County native Brandi Williams is one of five kids. She was worried that the cost of college would be tough on her family so she wanted to help out. Williams says, "Every single penny makes a big difference for me and my family."
And those pennies add up. Brandi’s four years of education at Towson University will cost about $30,000. She says, "I have student loans right now. I also am always kind of searching for scholarships and my parents help out with the rest."
But you're helping her too and you might not even know it. That's because Williams is one of about 13,000 Maryland students given a legislative scholarship this year. Brandi and students like her got $11 million worth of legislative scholarships in the last fiscal year. That figure counts for nearly 10-percent of all scholarship money awarded by the state annually. Every year state senators get about $138,000 to spend. State delegates are given about $34,000. But it's not their money, it's yours.
State Senator Allan Kittleman is quick to point out that fact. When it comes to the legislative scholarships, he says, "We're talking about an awful lot of taxpayer money and it shouldn't be simply in my hands to give out any way I want."
But Kittleman and other lawmakers are given that power granted by state law. The code says delegates can award the scholarships any way they consider appropriate. Students who try the Senate side must show financial hardship. But the law says it’s the senators who determine need.
Senator Kittleman didn't want to judge. That's why shifted his dollars for scholars back to the Maryland Higher Education Commission. More than 20 other lawmakers also made that choice last year, asking the Commission to award their allocated funding. Kittleman has a specific reason for shifting the money, saying he wants to get rid of legislative scholarships. He believes the scholarships are a political privilege that can be an abused. He says, "There is that potential and because there is that potential, I think it provides skepticism among the citizens of Maryland about what we really do with it."
And when it comes to what's done with the money, there's nothing in state law that says lawmakers' kids or even the children of their biggest donors can't get legislatives scholarships. And those awards can be for big money. Although MHEC says the average award is just over $800, legislative scholarships can be granted for as much as $9,000.
Longtime state Delegate Carolyn Krysiak is a legislative scholarship supporter. She tells ABC2, "I try, I really try to give every applicant something." To that end, while other lawmakers form committees or selection boards, Krysiak takes the divide and conquer approach with her scholarship funds, splitting the money among applicants. She believes the program helps kids she says are stuck in the middle, the ones who don't qualify for academic or merit awards but still deserve a boost. Despite the controversy, Krysiak says she feels the scholarships are valid, "There are so many people who need help. I would hate to see one avenue disappear because someone else has maybe misbehaved."
But misbehavior with this money can be hard to track with this system. We sent letters to more than 40 state lawmakers, wanting to know which students got their scholarships and how much they were given. We got some answers through an extensive spreadsheet sent to us by MHEC. It detailed the thousands of students who received legislative scholarships in the past two fiscal years.
But the agency says it tracks spending by district, not by specific lawmakers, so we couldn’t make specific ties between students and legislators. And according to Robert Parker, the Director of the Office of Student Finance Assistance, MHEC is not allowed to reveal how much money each student is given. He says, "We would be bombarded with requests from everyone wanting to know did so and so get a scholarship and for how much. That's really confidential information."
It’s confidential information that some believes keeps a veil over a program handling major money. But students like Brandi Williams are happy to lift the cover on an award she says drives her to achieve. She says, "I feel kind of like the state invested in me to continue my academic progress and succeed in that."
