131st MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1028		LR 725(02)
	An Act to Expand the Higher Education Tuition Waiver for Persons Who Have Resided in Foster Care
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
			FY 2023-24	FY 2024-25	Projections  FY 2025-26	Projections  FY 2026-27
Net Cost (Savings)
	General Fund		$119,639	$239,278	$337,749	$436,220
Appropriations/Allocations
	General Fund		$119,639	$239,278	$337,749	$436,220
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	Current law requires a state postsecondary educational institution to absorb the reduction in tuition revenue that results from providing tuition waivers to 30 new students per year who have resided in foster care per year.  This bill increases the number of tuition waivers that must be granted to eligible students from 30 to 50 and requires the cost of the additional 20 waivers to be funded by General Fund appropriations.  The waivers are to be available to eligible students at the University of Maine System (UMS) and the Maine Community College System (MCCS).
	The bill includes ongoing General Fund appropriations of $119,639 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $239,278 in fiscal year 2024-25 to a newly created Foster Care Tuition Waiver program within the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) for the cost of providing an additional 20 tuition waivers per year to eligible persons at the UMS and the MCCS.  This assumes that one-third of the new tuition waivers will be provided to eligible students attending the MCCS and two-thirds of the new waivers will be provided to eligible students attending the UMS.  This estimates also assumes that the administrative costs to FAME to administer the program is 5% of the total General Fund appropriation.
	Any additional costs to the Department of Health and Human Services from the provisions of this bill are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources.