HB 104-ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIPS  CHAIR DICK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 104, "An Act renaming the Alaska performance scholarship and relating to the scholarship and tax credits applicable to contributions to the scholarship; establishing the Alaska performance scholarship investment fund and the Alaska performance scholarship award fund and relating to the funds; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date." 9:44:38 AM NICHOLAS PENNINGTON, Teacher, Kodiak Island School District, stated support for HB 104, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: I am the student body president of the Kodiak Community College. I will keep this brief and concise. I have a very strong passion for success and believe that the lack of scholarship for needs-based students needs to be addressed and changed. I work 3 jobs and I am a full-time student. One of my jobs is working for the Kodiak Island Borough School District. I believe in the students and have faith in their success, however the financial deprive of my students is a huge deciding factor on whether or not to continue onto college upon graduation. It is with strong passion that I stand here to ask for your help and support for HB 104 so that my students can achieve their hopes and dreams, without going through the same financial struggles that I have been going through. Your support will keep retention within Alaska and help build the infrastructure that makes our beautiful state. 9:45:57 AM TOM HEWITT, Student, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), stated support for HB 104, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: I'm a journalism and computer science student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I've been fortunate in my experience going to school at UAF. My parents don't have the money to help with my education but tuition when I started going to school here was relatively affordable. I worked in the summer and throughout the school year, and with that money plus a small but prudent investment in Apple stock about a dozen years ago, I've been able to get through school not only without outside aid, but also debt-free. Not everyone who goes to school is as lucky as I am. I have a friend named Nikki. She's smart, she's energetic, and she's exactly the kind of person who represents what's best about the University of Alaska. I'm not just saying that because she's my friend - a lot of other students think so too, and that's why we elected her president of the student body. Nikki is a hard worker. Her parents haven't been able to give her much help with school either, so she holds down a job herself. Now keep in mind that this is a job on top of her job as student president, which is a full time job in itself. Nikki wasn't lucky enough to have a couple hundred shares of Apple stock, so she got a job as the morning news anchor for a local TV (television) station. That means she gets up at 3:00 a.m. every morning for work, and after working a full shift she goes to class, where she does her best to stay awake and learn. After class, she does her job representing the students as student body president. Now there are only so many hours in the day, and all of her work takes a toll. Nikki is stretched to her limit, and while she's a good student, as her friend I can tell you that all the work she has to do to pay for school absolutely has a negative effect on her ability to exercise her full potential in classes. None of us here are looking for a free ride. We like working hard. But with tuition having doubled over the past 10 years, sometimes working hard enough doesn't get us all the way there. So that's why I'm here. I'm not here for me. I'm here because of Nikki, and because I know that just about everyone at the university knows someone like her. And those are the people who need your help. Alaska is sorely in need of needs-based aid, and I would strongly urge you not only to support HB 104 but to include language that ties need-based into funding for students, as in the senate version of this bill. 9:48:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON indicated that the CS for HB 104 includes a needs-based financial aid component, and reviewed the award limits. 9:48:58 AM MR. HEWITT said any help is appreciated. 9:49:47 AM CHAIR DICK said that public testimony would remain open and announced the next meeting.