With tuition increases for next year an inevitability, a bill linking tuition with financial aid has received publicity on the UW-Madison campus.
But this is not the first time legislators have offered the idea, and if the bill does not become law, it will not be the first time such a bill fails.
Assembly Bill 194 aims to increase financial aid at the same rate as tuition increases.
\The concept comes up often,"" said Steve Van Ess, director of the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Services.
Last year, the bill failed in the state Assembly. Two years ago, the bill passed both the Assembly and the Senate but was vetoed by former Gov. Tommy Thompson.
Currently, legislatures are in a special session for an amended form of Gov. Scott McCallum's budget, which includes AB 194.
Black said the Assembly Republicans were the reason for last year's failure of the bill, but others say the reason these types of bills continually fail is not so black and white.
Charlie Hoslet, director of state relations for UW-Madison, said the partisan argument did not give the whole picture.
""Without going back and looking at the individual votes, I'd personally be hesitant to say all Democrats are for it and all Republicans are against it because I don't think that's the case,"" he said.
Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greenfield, said he would be concerned about the bill because it creates an increase in costs and creates a ""disincentive"" to control tuition.
""It concerns me that we would remove some of the pressure from the university to keep tuition down,"" Stone said.
He said he did not expect the bill to pass until there was a feeling within the legislature that the university was ""being prudent"" with its resources and trying to maintain a ""reasonable tuition level.""
Another explanation for the failure points to the actual logistics of the bill.
Van Ess says legislatures are often reluctant to pass such a bill because it commits future legislatures to allocating funds without their consensus.
UW-Madison senior Jeff Pertl, statewide campaign co-coordinator for United Council, gave a similar explanation as to why this legislation often fails.
""When you write in statutory language that mandates certain things, then you have to do them and then the legislator has to relinquish control a little bit,"" Pertl said.
But in the current budget situation, some suggest it may be more likely for this bill be passed.
""Recent surveys have shown that [affordability in higher education] is one of the top priorities of the population,"" Van Ess said. ""It's a good time right now to be watching these negotiations.""
Hoslet said while he was ""a little more optimistic"" this year than he has been in past years, he still gives the bill only 50 percent chance of passing.
