OUR VIEW: House Bill 75 is a step in the right direction

After the embarrassing publicity caused by House Bill 331, which mandated 60 credit hours for out-of-state students to gain residency, and which cost Utah State University almost 400 out-of-state students, the Legislature is starting to make amends with House Bill 75, if passed in the House and Senate.

Rep. Loraine Pace’s bill was designed to lower the credit requirement from 60 to 45 credit hours. A newer version of the bill, however, will allow the State Board of Regents (the higher education governing body) to grant 500 scholarships to out-of-state students.

Most affected by HB 331 were USU and UVSC, according to a report from Utah Foundation.

Members of the USU community should be glad something is being done to combat HB 331’s ill effects.

HB 75 will help USU recover from the enrollment decline. It isn’t an end-all, cure-all, but it’s better than nothing.

Too bad people didn’t communicate with their legislators sooner. Rep. Carol Moss said she was sorry for voting for HB 331. But not enough people had bothered letting her know the bill was bad news.

If people want to be free from atrocious bills, they need to talk to their representatives. Let them know what is important. Make them do their job by representing their constituents. In order to do that, they need to simply hear from their constituents.