OFFICIALS DEBATE EXTENDING AID

ANNAPOLIS - Students expressed support yesterday for a bill that
would ease federal restrictions preventing convicted drug offenders
from receiving financial aid, saying in a hearing that students
denied federal money for college should still be eligible for state
financial aid.

An estimated 2,700 students of the 1.4 million who applied for aid
were denied federal money for school because of drug convictions
according to the organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy, but
a bill introduced by Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) seeks to
ignore the federal denial and allow state aid. The state currently
automatically denies any applicant who was denied federal aid.

Gutierrez said in an interview that besides the 2,700 who went
without aid last year, thousands more students are deterred from
ever pursuing financial aid because of a law that denies aid even to
students whose offense included a simple possession charge.

"If kids think they're going to be denied, they don't even bother to
apply," said Gutierrez. "Those are not going to show up in any statistics."

Testifying before the House Ways and Means committee yesterday,
sophomore Anastacia Cosner, a communications major who leads this
university's local Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter, told
legislators students shouldn't have to worry about financial aid
after paying penalties for drug convictions.

"Many young people ... feel confused and more importantly frightened
by all of the consequences that come from a drug conviction,
especially the loss of financial assistance," Cosner said.

As the law stands, the state routinely requires students requesting
state financial aid to also file for a federal aid request. But the
state can automatically deny a student's request if the federal
government denies an application. If Gutierrez's bill is passed, the
state would no longer automatically deny state applications solely
because the federal government does.

The denials originate when students fill out the federal FAFSA form,
which requires students to answer whether they have been convicted
of any drug violation. Because no law exists in Maryland that
prevents students with drug convictions from receiving
aid, Gutierrez expects fewer denials would occur at the state level.

"It's a federalist issue," Gutierrez said. "Don't take a bad federal
policy and make it a bad Maryland policy."

State data shows that federal funds make up less than 1 percent of
the state's financial aid distribution, and Gutierrez is also
seeking to separate the federal from the state funds so there will
be no future requirement to follow federal guidelines.

Gutierrez first became involved with this issue when Jonathan
Sherwin, her legislative assistant at the time and a University of
Maryland graduate, brought it up to her last year, she said. After
investigating the issue, she submitted similar legislation in March
2006, but it was too late to pass the House.

Now that she has re-submitted it and it has picked up 20 other
sponsors, she expressed confidence that it will pass this session.

The Higher Education Commission is not yet sure how the new
legislation will affect aid distribution if it is passed.

"Until something like that gets implemented, it's hard to tell who
it's going to effect," said Helen Szablya, a Higher Education
Commission spokeswoman.

Jahantab Siddiqui, president of the university's Off-Campus Student
Association, said in written testimony yesterday that "this bill is
about improving access to higher education, we are not condoning
illegal behavior."