Harrisburg, PA – December 12, 2023 – Today, Senator Vincent Hughes, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, applauded the movement of House Bill 1886 in the House of Representatives. The bill would create the PA Promise Pilot Program to provide “last-dollar” college financial aid to full-time students attending one of the Commonwealth’s state-owned or state-related institutions.
“I’ve been fighting for PA Promise for six years with Representative Harris and other advocates who see how game changing this legislation would be for moderate and low-income students. I’m proud to see the legislation progress in the House of Representatives,” said Senator Hughes. “We knew student loan debt was a big problem when we introduced PA Promise in 2017, and now we see it’s an even bigger burden for college graduates and a huge concern for young people who are thinking about going to college.”
Senator Hughes continued, “PA Promise is a solution for low-income students who want to go to college but don’t have the financial means to do so. We have billions in budget surplus. Why wouldn’t we step up to help Pennsylvanians who want to better themselves, their career options, and their futures? Higher education should be accessible to anyone who wants to attend. PA Promise would start to make that a reality in Pennsylvania.”
House Bill 1886 was voted out of the Education Committee by a party line vote of 14-11. It will now go to the floor of the House of Representatives for a full vote.
Senator Hughes is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 315, the Senate version of House Bill 1886.
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