CAPITOL connection in brief

Bill to end board fails

Members of the House Education Committee snuffed out a measure that would have abolished the Board of Trustees for the State Colleges in Colorado.

The trustees govern Metro and three other state colleges.

Rep. Gayle Berry, R-Grand Junction, said she introduced the measure to give legislators a chance to investigate whether thereâs a ãmore effectiveä way to govern Colorado colleges.           

Berryâs bill would have made the Colorado Commission on Higher Education responsible for the state colleges while the lawmakers from the House and Senate Education Committees as well as the Joint Budget Committee hammered out legislation to reestablish a governing board. Though her measure failed, Berry said she will pursue similar legislation if she gets re-elected to the 1999 House of Representatives.         

Privacy measure OKâd

A measure to restrict state-funded Colorado colleges and universities from selling student information cleared the state House of Representatives on third reading Jan. 25 and is now up for consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Rep. Mike Salaz, R-Trinidad, who is sponsoring the measure, said he introduced it to help minimize the amount of ãjunk mailä college students receive.

Many colleges and universities, including Metro, sell addresses and other student information to businesses that market their products by mail.  Critics of the bill say it could mean students miss out on offers for items such as class rings.

Scholarship proposal axed

Colorado Senators killed a bill that would have guaranteed a $1,000 state-funded scholarship for any high school students who met academic criteria. The senate rejected the measure, which was sponsored by Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, on Feb. 23.      

Opponents of Thiebautâs measure said it would hurt other state-funded scholarship programs because it would draw on money earmarked for those programs.

Work-study bill moves on

Students with work-study grants could be only a pen-swipe away from getting a job at an employer off
campus.

A bill to widen job options for work-study students by letting them use the grants at for-profit employers breezed through both chambers of the Colorado legislature last month.

Gov. Roy Romer is expected to act on the measure by March 9.

If the bill becomes law, 750 Metro students with state work-study grants would be affected. If passed into law, the plan would be phased in to avoid hurting non-profit agencies.