Commission for Kentucky edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you.

Mackenzie.

Now turning to news in higher education.

Some university professors and campus workers say state lawmakers are once again attacking tenure, which is a competitive process and status that keeps professors on the job permanently.

House Bill 490 allows universities more discretion to fire employees for the sake of cutting costs.

Our June Leffler explains.

>> The language in all sections, allows for a faculty member to be removed by the board for bona fide financial reasons, including, but not limited to, financial exigency, low enrollment in a particular program or major or misalignment of revenue and costs in a particular college, department or major.

>> Do our universities not already have this created on their own?

Is it necessary?

>> Some of the universities do implement this.

It's actually in their faculty handbook passed by their faculty senate.

It's at at University of Louisville and then also at WKU.

But it is generally not, you know, the same across all the universities.

>> United Campus Workers of Kentucky opposes the, quote, anti tenure bill, saying in a statement, quote, it is yet another attempt to weaken faculty job protections.

It also opens the door to further politicization of our universities.

Institutions are constantly facing some form of financial pressure, and this bill creates a ready made pretext for arbitrarily removing faculty, either for political reasons or under the guise of budgetary concerns.

One Republican also pushed back.

>> I just simply believe that is a policy that should be withheld within the Board of Regents.

Which university and college?

Thank you.

>> The House Post-secondary Education Committee approved House Bill 490, though four lawmakers abstained from voting.

The committee also considered changes to tuition waivers.

These allow students to go to a public college for free that includes the children of police officers or firefighters who die in the line of duty, as well as foster children and senior citizens.

House Bill 490 mandates these students fill out a free application for federal student aid, which is also referred to as Fafsa.

>> On these waivers, it would require for anyone to receive a waiver.

They're required to fill out a Fafsa, and if they're eligible for a Pell Grant, which makes automatically eligible for a Cap grant or Cctg grant, those funds would be used, and then the tuition waiver would be about half the cost.

>> Students would need to use any eligible federal grants before expecting universities to cover tuition.

The bill's sponsor had initially proposed denying senior citizens a tuition waiver, saying this aging cohort likely won't be reentering the workforce.

>> Even if we straighten them out.

They could have audited the class, but they're back in.

The only thing I did is I made it consistent across every waiver group requirement to complete a Fafsa.

>> This did not convince one Louisville Democrat.

>> But I really think it's short sighted of us not to just say, if you're 65 and up and this is something that you're interested in, go for it.

And I think it would save us money and health care costs.

It would make for happier, healthier, more engaged seniors.

And so that's that's my concern about the bill.

>> With a single no vote, House Bill 497 did pass and heads now to the House floor for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June.

These tuition waivers are in state law with universities footing the bill.

That's why during the committee hearing, State Representative Lisa Willner,