By Monique Garcia Clout Street

6:38 p.m. CDT, August 9, 2011

Gov. Pat Quinn says legislative scholarships should be banned. (Tribune/Antonio Perez)

Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday renewed his call to eliminate a program that lets lawmakers grant scholarships to state schools as federal investigators look into how one former legislator doled out the taxpayer-supported tuition waivers.

The governor said lawmakers should focus on beefing up merit-based scholarships instead of handing out scholarships to whomever they please, including campaign donors. But Quinn stopped short of saying what he’ll do with legislation on his desk that would prevent lawmakers from giving the awards to relatives.

Quinn vetoed a similar bill last year saying it didn't go far enough. Quinn said he’ll act on the new legislation by the end of the week, but he’s already voicing doubts.

“The essence of the bill on my desk is that it does not abolish the program, and that’s really what I think we have to do,” Quinn said. “I do want to make it clear that there’s no bigger supporter of scholarships than I am. I believe that we need to enhance our scholarship programs in Illinois, but I think having a program that’s had sort of a cloud of scandal around it for decades is not the way to do that.”

Quinn’s comments follow revelations that a federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents related to scholarships former Rep. Robert Molaro gave to children of longtime supporter Phillip Bruno. The Tribune reported last year that Bruno’s children received more than $94,000 in tuition waivers in recent years despite questions about their residence eligibility.

Lawmakers are allowed to give away the equivalent of two four-year scholarships each year, though most divide them into eight one-year awards. The only requirement is that recipients live in the district of the lawmakers awarding the gift.

Since money is not set aside for the program, schools must pick up the tab each year. It’s a cost Quinn said universities can’t afford, especially since the state is already months behind in making payments to schools.

“Merit and need, I think those are the ways to go,” Quinn said.

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