A DEAL GONE BAD

A bill currently under consideration in the state Legislature's
Colleges and Universities Committee would prevent convicted drug
dealers from receiving state financial aid. Assembly Bill 151,
introduced by Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, would mirror a federal law
that places similar restrictions on federal financial aid
eligibility. With limited state education funds, Mr. Hahn claims the
bill is necessary to ensure law-abiding students are the ones
receiving financial aid.

Despite Mr. Hahn's feigned concern for fiscal responsibility, we have
a hard time believing this would do anything substantive for the
state's finances. In 2005-06, the state distributed $90 million in
aid to students. In a study analyzing the effects of the more severe
federal financial aid restrictions, Students for Sensible Drug Policy
found that 1 in 400 applicants were denied aid. If similar numbers
held true for this bill, Mr. Hahn's proposal would not even save the
state half-a-million dollars - without even considering implementation costs.

Worse, the intent of the bill completely undercuts the alleged
purpose of financial aid: to assist those who otherwise would have
difficulty paying for college. Cutting funds from students with drug
offenses would take aid from those who likely need it most. While the
bill does allow eligibility to be reinstated after two years or upon
completion of a drug rehabilitation program, these caveats do little
to mitigate the overall burden of the bill.

From the perspective in Madison, this bill is especially
disappointing in light of the recent announcement by the Dane County
District Attorney's office, stating it would no longer file criminal
charges against individuals possessing less than roughly one ounce of
marijuana. This welcome move came with the understanding that violent
crime should be the priority in the city. In contrast, our state
government representatives seem dogmatically intent on throwing the
book at this non-violent class of citizens.

Indeed, the justification for this bill is critically flawed. If Mr.
Hahn is so concerned with the prospect of law-breaking students from
receiving aid, perhaps he'd like to amend the bill to cut funding
from students who illegally gamble online, download pirated music or jaywalk.

This bill's provisions would also be difficult to implement.
According to a UW official familiar with the matter, the UW System is
not equipped or staffed to keep track of drug offenses that occur off campus.

Doling out punishments is a responsibility best left to the courts -
not the state Legislature. The Legislature already has enough
important university-related issues to be concerned with, like
stem-cell research, domestic partner benefits and overall UW System
financing. The last thing they need is a debate over a petty,
ill-conceived bill designed more to score self-righteous legislators
cheap political points than to improve public policy.