Bill advances to give state aid to religion students
By RICH ADAMS
Tribune Editor
LANSING - A package of bills that would make college students studying theology eligible for state scholarships or grant money have advanced in the Michigan Senate.
The seven-bill package was introduced this legislative session by state Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, whose district includes Cheboygan County.
Allen said the bills, which were introduced to end what he calls "the practice of discrimination against certain types of academic study," passed unopposed in the Senate Committee on Education late last week, Allen said.
"Michigan college students should not be denied access to certain scholarships based on their choice of study," said Allen, a first-term senator who previously served in the state House of Representatives.
Trees Beaker, one of Allen's constituents, is a college student and claims she does not have access to more than $242 million awarded annually in grant and scholarship money because she chose to study in the field of theology.
Beaker filed a lawsuit against the state earlier this year after her scholarship was rescinded following her selection of theology as a field of study. U.S. District Judge George Carom Steed ruled the state is prohibited from enforcing the law preventing her from receiving the scholarship money.
The lawsuit is similar to one that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguement on this session.
Earlier this month the nation's high-court justices appeared deeply divided in a church-state case involving a college student who lost his taxpayer-funded scholarship because he chose to major in theology.
In a case with implications for President Bush's plan to allow more church-based organizations to compete for government money, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer argued it was improper for Joshua Davey to lose the Promise Scholarship he was awarded by the state of Washington.
The scholarship was rescinded after Davey declared his major because state officials deemed it an unconstitutional blending of church and state.
"It's treating religion differently from non-religion," Justice Antonin Scalia told Washington's lawyer, Narda Pierce. "You can study anything you like and get it subsidized, except religion. Why does that not violate the principle of neutrality?"
The Bush administration backs Davey, arguing that states cannot discriminate against religious education.
Several justices seemed skeptical, suggesting that the country has long had a hands-off policy when it comes to the training of clergy and that states have considerable leeway in choosing how to spend money.
In the Michigan Legislature, Allen's package would affect five main programs: the Michigan Merit Scholarship, the Michigan Educational Opportunity Grant, the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, the Part-time Independent Student Grant and the state's Tuition Grant programs.
Allen said changing the law also would help the state avoid potential lawsuits, as the current language can be deemed a violation of the state constitution.
"This is not a church-state issue, it is an issue of educational freedom," Allen explained. "We need to level the playing field for all of Michigan's college students."