After pushback from students, bill aimed at limiting Bright Futures scholarship funding is being reworked
TAMPA, Fla. - The fight to save the Bright Futures Scholarship Program from funding cuts is gaining more traction. A bill aimed at limiting funding to the Bright Futures scholarship program is essentially being re-crafted.
"What we ultimately want to do is expand the accessibility to education and we really just want to stop this bill," high school junior Shaheer Ali said.
If passed in its original form, Senate Bill 86 would have cut funding to the Bright Future's scholarship program, put limits on which courses would be paid for and restrict degree options. After backlash from students, the restrictions regarding degrees and AP courses were dropped.
"This program is giving so many people the chance to go to college and make a big change for their family," high school senior Kaylee Duong explained.
The Bright Futures program -- which started in 1997 and is funded by the Florida Lottery -- offers college scholarships to eligible high school students based on their GPA and SAT scores. The bill's sponsor, Republican Senator Dennis Baxley, originally proposed the legislation to alleviate the pandemic's strain on the state's budget, but it was met with major backlash.
So far, a change.org petition to kill the bill has received more than 132,000 signatures. Despite lawmakers taking out the most controversial elements, there's still concern. As part of the latest changes, lawmakers would essentially have the power to re-evaluate, each year, how much money the program and each student will recieve.
Currently, the program is funded with proceeds generated by the Florida Lottery, but this bill would take the money from the state's general fund instead.
"With how general they're being, there's no knowing how much they're giving us," Duong said.
Duong and Ali are part of the organization SaveBrightFutures.org, a movement created to stop the bill. They ultimately hope to make sure no legislation puts limits on funding the program.
"I've already gotten the 100 community services hours required. I've gotten the SAT score. I've got my grades up. I've worked so hard for the scholarship so the fact that it's being limited is just not right," Ali said.
Most recently, the bill was passed by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. It'll now move on to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review. If passed, it would go into effect on July 1.
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