House Bill 299 - an anti affirmative action bill modeled after a similar
proposition in California and House Bill 303 - an anti Indian bill which
includes language to do away with the Montana Indian Fee Waiver were heard
this morning, April 17, 1997 in the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee.
We do not yet know the outcome or when these two bills will be acted upon
by the committee.
If you have children who benefited from the Montana Indian fee waiver or
were formally a recipient of it, we in Montana would appreciate your
support. Please call in your opposition to these bills to the Montana
Legislature. You may leave individual messages for individual legislators
at 406-444-4800.
You may also fax letters of opposition to the bills to the Senate
Judiciary Committee at 1-900-252-1600 - this will cost you 70 cents a
minute!
Briefly, currently - 114 Black students, 1094 American Indian/Alaskan
Native, 277 Asian, and 413 Hispanic students in the Montana Unversity
System - this also includes those student in the Colleges of Technology
as well as the three community colleges. Our total enrollment this fall
was 37006.
In academic year 1995-96 we had 618 students who received the fee waiver.
This fee waiver was first offered in 1951 with 12 waivers. Board of
Regents policy makes this fee waiver available to " any person of
one-fourth Indian blood or more. Such person must have been a bona fide
resident of the State of Montana for a least one year prior to enrollment
in the Montana University System and must demonstrate financial need". In
addition the individual units of the system make additional rules -
usually a gpa or "good standing" rule.
The fee waiver is currently worth around $1800. This amount is critical
to students who come from impoverished homes and communities. In Montana
approximately 10% of the population live below the poverty line. For
Indians in Montana it is 40% !!
We appreciate your prayers and letters of support.
********
Ellen Swaney
Director
American Indian/Minority Achievement
Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education
Montana University System
2500 Broadway
Helena, MT 59620-3101
phone 406-444-6570
fax 406-444-1469
E-mail - eswaney@oche.montana.edu