Via Talk Left, one of the more ludicrous and pernicious manifestations of our nation's silliness about drugs is thankfully being eliminated:
The Senate legislation would also eliminate from the federal financial aid application a controversial question asking whether applicants have been convicted of drug possession while receiving federal student aid. That question has been used to identify and strip financial aid from thousands of students. While the Senate bill would leave the drug possession penalty in the law, dropping the question from the federal financial aid form would make enforcement of the provision very difficult.
“We’re thrilled that the committee has acted to make sure that students with drug convictions will no longer be automatically stripped of their aid and will be able to stay in school and on the path to success,” said Tom Angell, government relations director at Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “While it would be more appropriate to simply erase the penalty from the lawbooks altogether, we support the committee’s effort to make sure that students with drug convictions can get aid just like anyone else.”
Why anyone ever thought this was a good idea is beyond me. Someone who gets in trouble with drugs presumably needs to start making better choices -- like, say, finishing school. This is a particularly important issue for community college students, many of whom are non-traditional and really struggling to move in a more positive direction. Getting rid of the question is good. Getting rid of the law would be better.
On the bad side of the Senate bill, they don't follow the House lead in reducing the interest rates on student loans.