Gov. Quinn: Boost low-income college grants by tens of millions

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Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans to announce an expansion of the state program that provides financial aid grants to Ilinois low-income students. Quinn is shown with Western Illinois University President Jack Thomas (R) as they share ribbon cutting duties during the official ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony for the WIU-Quad Cities Riverfront Campus in Moline, Ill., on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/The Dispatch, Todd Mizener)

Updated: March 2, 2012 8:19AM

SPRINGFIELD — Spending on state grants for low-income college students would jump by “tens of millions of dollars” under a push Gov. Pat Quinn will make in his State of the State address Wednesday.

That increase in the state’s Monetary Award Program, targeted tax cuts for veterans and families with children, and job creation are expected to be key planks in his address.

“That’s foremost on the minds of everyday people in our state,” Quinn told reporters Tuesday in Chicago, emphasizing the job-expansion theme he intends to present. “We have to have robust economic growth and jobs in order to be a good state.”

Quinn’s second State of the State speech since becoming governor in 2009 comes after a grim report by the Civic Federation that predicted the state’s pile of unpaid bills could quadruple to $34.8 billion during the next four years.

Quinn has been a longstanding cheerleader for the MAP program, helping restore $200 million cut from the program during his first year as governor.

Last year, state records show, MAP paid out college grants averaging $2,762 to more than 141,000 low-income students whose parents had an average taxable income of $31,000. The maximum MAP award given was $4,968, a level that hasn’t changed in a decade despite galloping tuition inflation during that period.

In the state’s last fiscal year, $390 million was spent on the program, not nearly enough to cover the costs for those eligible. Only 45 percent of those qualified for MAP grants got them, marking the first time since the program’s 1967 inception that that percentage dipped below the halfway mark.

The exact size of Quinn’s proposed increase for MAP grants was not immediately clear nor was the way he intended to pay for it. However, a source familiar with his proposal indicated the increase he envisions is in the “tens of millions of dollars.”

Last year, in his budget address, the governor also called for increased spending on MAP grants, only to see lawmakers short the program by $17.2 million in the final budget they passed to him in May. About $33 million was restored and added to the program last fall.

State Sen. Edward Maloney (D-Chicago), chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, praised Quinn for identifying new MAP grant spending as a priority and hoped the legislative appetite exists to carry it through.

“The MAP is essential to giving students that come from difficult economic conditions an opportunity to go to school and to succeed, which I think in the long run is a great investment for the state,” Maloney said.

But the ranking Republican on that panel said the governor will falsely raise people’s hopes with his call when the state has no money to pay its bills or adequately fund other core government services.

“As much as we have worthwhile programs and we’d like to help [college students] with their education, we simply can’t afford it,” said Sen. Christine Johnson (R-Shabbona), whose district takes in Northern Illinois University.