Gov Candidate Jack Wagner Offers HOPE in 2010

By JACK WAGNER FOR GOVERNOR

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 3, 2009 – With college tuition costs continuing to spiral out of control, Pennsylvania families and students could all use a little HOPE.

Or, more precisely, a HOPE scholarship.

Auditor General Jack Wagner today pledged that making college affordable for Pennsylvanians attending Pennsylvania colleges would be a key initiative in his gubernatorial campaign. He is pushing for a HOPE Scholarship Program in Pennsylvania that would help relieve the financial burden of higher education costs by providing assistance to academically successful high school students.

“As the father of two children, I share the concerns of many hard-working parents who struggle with the burden of how to provide their children with the educational opportunities that are necessary for a brighter future,’’ Wagner said. “Making higher education more affordable for all Pennsylvanians is vital to the economic future of our commonwealth, and it is a cornerstone of my plan for restoring hope for all Pennsylvania families and students.’’

HOPE is an acronym for Helping Our Pupils to Excel. Students who graduate from high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average would have their tuition paid for at a state-owned university. Students choosing to attend a state-related institution (Penn State, Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln universities), a private institution, or a vocational-technical school would receive a scholarship valued at the average cost of a state-owned university.

The HOPE Scholarship program would be funded by excess profits from table games at Pennsylvania casinos, Wagner said.

Wagner has long championed HOPE scholarships; as a state senator, he introduced legislation to establish such a program four different times.

As Pennsylvania’s independent fiscal watchdog, Auditor General Jack Wagner has fought hard in Harrisburg to make higher education more affordable. His first-ever special performance audit of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency highlighted wasteful spending in the state’s top agency for providing financial assistance to needy Pennsylvania students and resulted in much-needed reforms.

Patterned after a similar scholarship program in Georgia, Wagner’s HOPE Scholarship Program would help families cope with the rising costs of higher education, which are escalating faster than the inflation rate. The annual cost at a state-owned university has risen by 29 percent over the past four years – nearly double the inflation rate of 15 percent, Wagner noted. As a result, Pennsylvania has the third-highest public tuition rates in the nation.

Because of these spiraling costs, the average student loan debt for an undergraduate student has risen to more than $20,000, Wagner said. The rising cost of higher education, along with the debt that follows, has become a disincentive for students who want to further their education.

“We are saddling our children with crushing debt that will cripple their purchasing power for years to come – and, by extension, the economy of Pennsylvania,’’ Wagner said. “Young people under 18 years old are 23 percent of our population, but they are 100 percent of our future.’’

Jack Wagner: A Record of Reform

Auditor General Jack Wagner has a demonstrated record of reforming the operations of government and watching the bottom line for taxpayers. Since taking office as Auditor General in Jan. 2005, he has focused on the issues that Pennsylvania families and taxpayers are concerned about – whether it’s the safety of the food they eat, the quality of the gasoline they buy, or the security of the schools their kids attend. He has taken on the big issues – successfully demanding a stronger Megan’s Law to protect women and children from sexual predators; sounding the alarm about the solvency of state and local pensions; and exposing millions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds. He has conducted first-ever or long overdue special performance audits of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, the new Gaming Control Board, the Opportunity Grant Program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the state employees’ and teachers’ retirement systems, and many other state agencies and programs that are supposed to be working for Pennsylvanians.

Wagner is a decorated Vietnam War combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, former member and president of the Pittsburgh City Council, and former state senator representing Allegheny County. After attending the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on the GI Bill, Wagner worked in the private sector as a Certified Safety Professional, ensuring that businesses provide safe work environments for their employees. He was also a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for five years while working in a variety of capacities at Duquesne Light Company after graduation from high school. He was honored to receive a lifetime honorary membership in the union by IBEW Local 29.

Wagner was elected Auditor General in 2004, winning over 2.7 million votes and 52 percent of the vote against four other candidates. He was re-elected in 2008, receiving a record 3.3 million votes and 59 percent of the vote against two other candidates. In his landslide victory, Wagner received the highest number of votes by any candidate from any party for any office on the ballot. This was also the highest number of votes ever received by a candidate for auditor general, and the second-highest number of votes received by any Pennsylvania candidate in state history.

Wagner is a lifelong resident of the Beechview neighborhood in Pittsburgh, where he lives with his wife Nancy. They are the proud parents of Luke and Sara.

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