skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Grad Students: GOP Tax Bill is "Primary Concern"

play audio
Play

Tuesday, November 21, 2017   

SEATTLE – Cash-strapped graduate students in Washington state and across the country are watching the tax debate in Congress closely. A provision in the House GOP's bill to overhaul the tax code, which passed last week, would turn tuition waivers offered by universities into taxable income.

Most students work as teaching or research assistants in exchange for tuition breaks.

Sam Sumpter is financial secretary for UAW 4121, the union for academic student employees at the University of Washington. The union estimates this provision would increase student employees' tax burden by $5,000 a year at U.W. Sumpter says at that price, students either won't be able to finish their program or won't be able to afford basic necessities.

"We've had some people report that if waivers were to be taxed, then they would be able to afford food but basically nothing else," she laments. "So I certainly think it would have an impact on just daily life."

Sumpter says the House bill is many members' "primary concern." The Senate version of the tax bill does not include the proposal on tuition waivers. Senators could vote on their tax bill after Thanksgiving. Leaders in Congress and the White House say they are aiming to pass a bill by Christmas.

About 60 percent of students who receive waivers are working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, according to the Department of Education.

Karen Strickland, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Washington, calls it "illogical" to burden students in fields that many businesses and institutions are making efforts to boost. She says this proposal is an attack on higher learning.

"This really is a sign of the intention to continue to defund higher education, close down access to higher education, and basically undermine the entire institution of higher education, weakening the working and middle classes," she warns.

Roughly 145,000 graduate students nationwide receive these kinds of waivers, according to the American Council on Education.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021