A private Christian college, in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state, loses out in the new republican tax bill.
Berea College in Berea, Ky. was protected under a provision in the GOP bill that went to the Senate, Tuesday, from a new 1.4 percent tax on private university endowments.
Under the bill that cleared the House, only colleges with at least 500 “tuition-paying” students would be required to pay the endowment tax.
Berea doesn’t charge tuition and enrolls low-income students.
But the Senate parliamentarian ruled that provision was out of order and Republicans will likely be forced to drop the language, “tuition paying,” in order to pass it.
For a full explanation of what the Senate parliamentarian is and the rules that Republicans need to abide by in passing their tax bill, listen to today’s CBN News Daily Rundown.
“With Senate Democrats choosing to make it harder for schools like Berea to serve low-income students, Senator McConnell will continue working with Congressman Andy Barr and Berea College in fighting for students to earn a college degree,” said McConnell’s aide, Robert Steurer.
Berea College has an endowment of $1 billion.
“That money goes towards helping low-income students attend and finish college,” said Steven M. Bloom, director of government relations at the American Council on Education. “Berea College is the crown jewel for what higher education can do for low-income people.”
Lyle D. Roelofs, president of Berea College, said in a statement that the legislation had left people on the campus disappointed, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“Berea College uses its entire endowment to educate students who could not otherwise afford to attend college, serving them on a no-tuition basis,” he said.
“We agree that there need to be incentives for schools to make higher education accessible to all students, but it seems so unfortunate that the political strife over tax reform in our country will result in greater difficulty for colleges seeking to serve low-income students.”
