Lawmakers again target legislative scholarships perk

Each of the state's 177 legislators can choose to nominate students who live in their district for either two four-year scholarships, four two-year scholarships or eight one-year scholarships at a state university

Many legislators don't have anything to do with the selection process and instead leave it up to a scholarship committee. The program has been criticized in the past for being used by lawmakers to reward relatives of campaign contributors.

last year, the state House passed a measure to abolish legislative scholarships, but the Senate didn't take it up for a vote. Instead, both houses passed a proposal that would have prevented immediate family members of campaign contributors from receiving the scholarships. Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed that idea, saying he supported eliminating the scholarship program in its entirety.

last year, 28 lawmakers decided not to hand out their legislative scholarships, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

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