Assembly debates minority qualification for grants

MADISON, Wis.— Minority people applying for a higher education grant program would no longer get preferential treatment under a bill debated the state Assembly late Tuesday night.

The proposal would remove being black, Indian, Hispanic or Hmong as eligibility criteria for the Talent Incentive Program Grants. Those grants of between $600 and $1,800 are given to the state's most needy and educationally disadvantaged college-bound students.

The proposal came from Democratic state Rep. Peggy Krusick of Milwaukee, but her fellow Democrats assailed the idea calling it discriminatory, morally reprehensible, mean-spirited, hurtful, and embarrassing.

But Republican state Rep. Robin Vos says since the program targets the economically disadvantaged, whether a person is a minority shouldn't matter.