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Increased Limit Is Proposed for Senate Scholarships
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The bill has the support of many senators, but it also has opponents and could face efforts to amend it on the Senate floor today.
Sen. Allan H. Kittleman (R-Howard), the minority whip, has a bill to abolish the program.
Kittleman, who replaced his late father, Robert H. Kittleman (R), in the Senate, said his father tried for 20 years to do away with the program. The younger Kittleman has decided to take up the cause.
"It gives the impression that we are eliciting favors," Kittleman said. "I'm not saying that anyone is doing that, but it gives that impression."
Kittleman said there is something wrong with the idea of "legislators getting credit for giving people their money back. . . . It's almost like you've got a vote for life when you've given someone's son or daughter a scholarship."
Another lawmaker is trying to rein in the program instead of getting rid of it.
Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) is sponsoring a bill to prohibit any relatives of senators or delegates from receiving scholarship money. Sen. Katherine A. Klausmeier (D-Baltimore), for instance, gave two semesters' worth of scholarships to a niece a few years ago.
Several lawmakers who oppose Simonaire's bill said they thought it would be unfair to penalize a relative who can't pay for college, and they asked who would be responsible for enforcing the rules.
