WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-Grassroots organization seeks answers from lawmakers on PACT
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HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - The ongoing fight over Alabama's Prepaid College Tuition Program will reach another milestone Wednesday and many parents from the valley are taking their fight to state lawmakers in Montgomery.
The grassroots organization, "Save Alabama Pact" plans on lobbying state leaders at the pact board meeting.
They want PACT lawmakers to make good on the promise they had for the children's education.
Thousands of Alabamians hold contracts, but millions of dollars are in jeopardy.
Ron Beasley in Decatur said he invested thousands in the PACT program for his two children with the hope their college tuition would be paid for.
PACT leaders have said the economic downturn and the shaky stock market have cost the program hundreds of millions of dollars.
Beasley said, "We could have done something different with the forty thousand dollars. If we don't band together now, if we wait six months from now it may be to late. We have to get out there and fight."
For months, the grassroots organization "Save Alabama Pact" has been pushing state lawmakers to fulfill their financial contract with the pact program.
"Save Alabama Pact" President Patti Lambert said "we need to know that there is a committment, that there is going to be payment on pact contracts."
They'll push state leaders a bit further when the PACT board of directors will meet Wednesday to hash out a proposal on how to make up for the shortfall
State Representative Phil Williams said PACT is a state problem that must be solved "the parents that signed up believed that they were in for a guarantee, so I believe that the state will end up coming up with a solution to make sure that they are made whole."
State Treasurer and PACT board member, Kay Ivey saID members will review proposed solutions to the PACT problem.
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C'mon, play. You know you want to. The boss will never know.
