The General Assembly’s October veto session could dictate the future fate of the Illinois Monetary Award Program, a need-based grant in which thousands of students rely on to ease tuition costs.

Paul Palian, director of communications for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, said ISAC is hoping the General Assembly passes a supplemental spending plan during the session that would appropriate additional money to the MAP grant. The session is from Oct. 14 to Oct. 16, and Oct. 28 to Oct. 30.

“We certainly are hopeful,” Palian said. “More hopeful than we’ve been.”

The General Assembly passed a budget in July that cut MAP grant funding in half from 2008 and provided $195 million for the program.

ISAC distributed the shortened amount for the fall and winter but does not have enough money to fund the MAP grant for the spring.

Gov. Pat Quinn, who signed off on the General Assembly’s budget, said in early September he hopes to find revenue that could fund the grant for the spring.

Eastern lost around $4.8 million in MAP grant funding for 2009. According to ISAC data, 26 percent of Eastern students received MAP grant funding for the 2007-08 school year.

Palian said about 138,000 students, who were awarded money before May 15, through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, will not receive any MAP grant funds if the grant is not supplemented.

He said about 130,000 students, who applied after May 15, would not be able to receive those funds regardless if the state legislature is able to appropriate additional funds.

Based off ISAC’s projections, if additional funding is not provided to the grant, one-third of the 138,000 students might have to drop out of college for a semester, and an additional one-third would permanently drop out of a four-year university.

Palian said another one-third of students would remain in school, if they took less credit hours or started working another job.

In a Sept. 4 Chicago Sun-Times article, Steve Brown, spokesperson for House Speaker Michael Madigan, questioned the possibility of approving a supplemental spending bill during the veto session.

At least one local representative agrees. Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said the October session usually pertains to the governor’s vetoes – not additional matters.

He said Quinn’s notion to find money for the MAP grant in the spring is a nice gesture, but added without a permanent solution, the issue will reappear.

“What happens next fall?” Rose said.

He said Illinois has had difficulties in addressing budget shortfalls during the last three years and a permanent, long-term solution would rectify the problem.

“It’s about prioritization,” Rose said.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, could not be reached for comment.

Palian said there is bipartisan support for funding the grant in the spring, adding the sole issue is finding the revenue.

He said Quinn and the legislature is not at fault for the cut to the MAP grant.

Financial deficiencies in the state budget were years in the making that spanned several administrations, Palian said.

“Unfortunately, it has come to a head now,” he said.

Palian said ISAC has urged students to write and contact their state legislators about the MAP grant issue. Students can print fliers off SaveIllinoisMapGrants.org and distribute them around campus, informing students of the cut, he said.

Palian also encourages students to call legislators on Oct. 13 and Oct. 27 as part of a mass call-in strategy. He said students are planning to host a MAP grant rally Oct. 15, in Springfield.

“We are really trying to empower the people,” he said.

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942

or at sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.