A bill that would provide higher education scholarships to low-income D.C. students passed the Council unanimously on first reading.

Designed and introduced by Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large), the D.C. Promise Establishment Act of 2013 would provide up to $7,500 a year to a high school graduate for college depending on their family’s income level. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton sounded the alarm yesterday, saying the Promise bill threatened funding for the federal DC Tuition Assistance Grant program.

“DCTAG has been in jeopardy ever since appropriators learned of the DC Promise bill,” Norton said in a memo. “I continue to encourage last dollar funding, if D.C. students are both to retain DCTAG funds and secure additional D.C. government funding.”

If the Promise bill is passed, even though not yet funded, it puts DCTAG funding at risk, not only because of specific concerns raised about the DC Promise bill, but also because of federal rules that significantly limit local funds for federally funded programs. Needless to say, I regret these rules even more than you, and I will not give up and will make every effort to save DCTAG from total or partial defunding. In turn, however, if the Promise bill is passed, whether or not funded, the Council must be prepared to fund DCTAG students in case of loss of funding.

In response to these concerns, Catania dropped the maximum award from $12,000 a year to $7,500 (it was originally $20,000), the Post reported, and specified “that the Promise money could not be used for tuition at TAG-eligible schools.”

Councilmembers wrestled with this during an hour of debate. Councilmember Jack Evans proposed postponing a vote on the bill until April 8, after the mayoral budget submission, but his amendment failed. Councilmember Anita Bonds framed the vote on the bill as a home rule and statehood issue, with Councilmembers Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh agreeing that D.C. was being held “hostage” by Congress.

In the end, the entire Council voted in favor of the bill, which will have a second reading next month. Norton responded to today’s vote in a statement:

Residents expect me to tell them what they may not know about congressional intentions and programs. I have done that by informing the Council and the public what we have been told about the risks of the D.C. Promise bill to DCTAG. Upon learning of the Promise bill, congressional appropriators warned that if it appears the city can fund its own college access program, future funding for DCTAG would be at risk. Today, a spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has seen to it that the District receives full DCTAG funding each year, publicly confirmed the risks to DCTAG.
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While securing DCTAG funding may become more difficult, I certainly will not give up. I will do what I always do. I will fight to save DCTAG if it is threatened with the loss of all or any part of its funding. If D.C. residents lose DCTAG funding for now or in the future, I know that they will hold the Council accountable to replace whatever funds are lost.