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Bill: Fair Tuition Act (2480)
Details
Submitted by[?]: Beluzian Workers Party
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: September 2483
Description[?]:
| An Act to end subsidies for the children of the rich to attend post-secondary institutes in Beluzia. For the purposes of this Act, the definition of low income shall be as follows: 1. For those who are minors, the income of their parents or legal guardians shall be considered insufficient (and the student shall be classified as low income) if any of the following is true: a) the income of a sole parent family is less than or equal to 250% of present housing costs; b) the income of a dual parent family is less than or equal to 200% of present housing costs; c) any parent is considered an invalid or is otherwise unable to engage in gainful employment, or is currently receiving subsidized health care or other social assistance programs from the national government (and is therefore, already classified as low-income) d) a review board at the Ministry of Finance, after a voluntary review of the parent(s) or guardian(s) of the student, has adjudicated the family's income as 'low income', according to Ministry standards. 2. For those who are over the age of majority and are full-time students (spends greater than or equal to 25 hours per week in the classroom, or any combination of class work and out-of-class studies required by the institution), the income of student shall be considered insufficient (and the student shall be classified as low-income) if any of the following is true: a) the income of a sole member (employed) household is less than or equal to 350% of present housing costs; b) the income of a household with two or more employed persons is less than or equal to 250% of present housing costs; c) any person in the household is considered an invalid or is otherwise unable to engage in gainful employment, or is currently receiving subsidized health care or other social assistance programs from the national government (and is therefore, already classified as low-income) d) a review board at the Ministry of Finance, after a voluntary review of the student, has adjudicated the family's income as 'low income', according to Ministry standards. 3. For those who are over the age of majority and are part-time students (spends less than 25 hours per week in the classroom, or any combination of class work and out-of-class studies required by the institution), the income of student shall be considered insufficient (and the student shall be classified as low-income) if any of the following is true: a) the income of a sole member (employed) household is less than or equal to 250% of present housing costs; b) the income of a household with two or more employed persons is less than or equal to 200% of present housing costs; c) any person in the household is considered an invalid or is otherwise unable to engage in gainful employment, or is currently receiving subsidized health care or other social assistance programs from the national government (and is therefore, already classified as low-income) d) a review board at the Ministry of Finance, after a voluntary review of the student, has adjudicated the family's income as 'low income', according to Ministry standards. 4. Housing cost information will be calculated according to the following standard: a) For those that own their home, without mortgage or lien against the property, housing cost will be calculated as the amount of property tax due, plus the Ministry of Finance's heating cost index price (calculated according to square foot). b) For those that own their home, with a mortgage or lien against the property, housing cost will be calculated as the amortized estimate of the property value (plus current interest rate) over a twenty-five year period, plus the amount of property tax due, plus the Ministry of Finance's heating cost index price (calculated according to square foot). c) For those that rent their home, housing cost will be calculated as the rental cost of the unit, plus the Ministry of Finance's heating cost index price (calculated according to square foot). d) Any person may, after voluntarily disclosing actual housing costs to the Ministry, appeal the estimate of housing costs as not reflecting the true cost of housing for the student and/or his parent(s)/guardian(s). 5. Income will be calculated based on the most recent income tax return filed by the student, and (when applicable) his parent(s) or guardian(s). 6. All information obtained during the application will be kept in strict confidence between the Ministry of Finance and the applicant - the Ministry of Education and Culture will only be notified of an approval of denial of an award of financial aid. 7. Scholarships, bursaries, grants, and other gifts will not be counted as income for the purposes of tuition aid. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Higher education tuition policy.
Old value:: The government fully subsidizes tuition.
Current: The government subsidizes tuition only for students from families classified as low-income or poor.
Proposed: The government subsidizes tuition only for students from families classified as low-income or poor.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 22:44:19, November 06, 2007 CET | From | Neo-Marxist revolutionary Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | Although we could in theory support this bill, as it does make economic sense to make the more wealthy in society pay for higher education as they can afford to do so; our problem stems from the fact that it does not take into account family size and so monetary output. For example two people do the same job, accountancy for instance, both are paid the same wage and both are not accounted amongst either those with low incomes or who are poor. However, one person is the parent of a family of four this person will thus have a larger monetary output than the other person who lives alone. This is our concern for this bill, the fact that it does not take into account individual circumstances. |
| Date | 22:58:49, November 06, 2007 CET | From | Constitutional Monarchy Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | we support. |
| Date | 17:06:00, November 07, 2007 CET | From | Beluzian Workers Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | Please review and let me know if the terms of aid would be acceptable. |
| Date | 17:07:49, November 07, 2007 CET | From | Constitutional Monarchy Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | we will support. |
| Date | 01:16:34, November 08, 2007 CET | From | Neo-Marxist revolutionary Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | We will support and we thank the honourable member of the Liberal Party for their elaboration upon their proposed bill. It is much appreciated. |
| Date | 16:52:47, November 08, 2007 CET | From | Beluzian Workers Party | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | No problem. Let it never be said that the Liberal Party kept anyone from an education who could not afford it. |
| Date | 21:12:19, November 08, 2007 CET | From | National Socialist Imperialist League | To | Debating the Fair Tuition Act (2480) |
| Message | Excellent proposal! Support to those who need it the most! |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 508 | |||||||
| no | Total Seats: 114 | |||||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 128 |
| Random fact: "Game mechanics comes first." For example, if a currently-enforced bill sets out one law, then a player cannot claim the government has set out a contradictory law. |
| Random quote: "The root source of wealth is human ingenuity. This has no known bounds, so the amount of wealth in existence can always be increased. That's why capitalism is called 'making money.'" - Marc Geddes |