For the second time in as many days, the Alabama Legislature has passed a bill to pay the state’s ailing prepaid affordable college tuition plan nearly $548 million over the next 17 years, fulfilling the state’s contract with the program’s nearly 44,000 participants.
Lawmakers passed a similar bill Wednesday, but Gov. Bob Riley felt it contained a flawed section, added an executive amendment and sent the bill back to the state House and Senate.
The state Senate approved the new bill by way of a 24-0 vote, but it was filibustered in the House by the Black Caucus, who had a bill they wanted to get through before session’s end.
“I knew we had the votes, so we knew we were there. Our enemy was the time,” said Patti Lambert, co-founder of Save Alabama PACT.
After much delay, the bill was brought up for discussion and passed 94-6, ending the months-long emotional roller coaster for PACT participants. For Lambert, the past two days have been bittersweet.
“Tears of joy. I’ve had the full rainbow of tears,” she said. “This is wonderful. It’s a fabulous day in Alabama that the Legislature and our leadership stood up and protected the children of Alabama.”
Wednesday, only hours after the bill passed in the Senate by way of a 23-8 vote and the House 85-7, state attorneys found a flaw in the bill’s language, which was a violation of federal regulations.
Riley, upon making corrections to the flawed section of the bill, sent it back to the state House for last-minute debate. In a news release, Riley urged all state lawmakers to pass his corrected version of the bill to save the program.
“We had the leadership of the Senate, leadership in the House,” Lambert said. “They went together and got a compromise that no one thought they could come up with ever.”
The flawed section of the bill threatened the tax-exempt status of the Public School and College Authority, which Riley said could have cost the state millions.
The lawmakers’ compromise will place a floating tuition cap on both state universities and 2-year colleges, excluding the University of Alabama and Auburn University.
UA system spokeswoman Kellee Reinhart said the bill was a fair and reasonable solution to the PACT issue.
“We are pleased that students whose families participate in the program will be helped without hurting the overwhelming majority of our students who are not PACT holders,” Reinhart said. “The Legislature worked long and hard to come up with a workable plan, and we fully support the results of their efforts.”
The bill also terminates the current PACT governing board and sets up a separate governing board that requires board members to have expertise in financial management.
