Under a recent bill introduced by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, federal funds to appease the cost of education systems would be out of reach for states that cut spending on higher education.

The College Affordability and Accountability Act, authored by Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., is designed to penalize states that continuously decrease higher education budgets by withholding federal higher education funding.

Ellynne Bannon, staffer for the Education and Workforce Committee of Congressman George Miller, said most states are not allowed to cut K-12 funding, and are forced to turn to higher education to ease budget stress.

“Higher education is always the first program on the chopping block,” Bannon said. “When you make cuts like this, it’s pushing higher taxes onto college students and parents. This bill says that the buck stops here, you can’t keep cutting the budget at the expense of the students.”

Bannon said the bill would require states to do a lot more long-term planning of higher education, but it would ultimately pay off for both students and universities. “The Democratic bill helps schools foster their quality of education by not cutting funding and classes, while it also stops hiking new taxes on students and families,” she said.

The Democratic bill also appoints a national campaign to implement methods to stop tuition from rising further.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., previously introduced The Affordability in Higher Education Act, which allows a university to set its own tuition price, but gives the federal government power to remove direct subsidies from colleges that repeatedly hike tuition costs.

“We’re glad the Democrats are finally figuring out that there is a college cost crisis,” said Vartan Djihanian, press secretary for McKeon. “But the Democratic bill doesn’t put enough emphasis on what colleges can do to control their own costs.”

Djihanian said McKeon believes the colleges themselves must do more to make the cost of higher education affordable, something McKeon’s bill will work to ensure.

But Bannon feels that the Republican bill would ultimately hurt students in the end. “The Republican bill makes college less affordable, because its repercussions take away student aid at schools where they raise their tuition high,” Bannon said. “Students don’t set tuition prices. Therefore it’s a terrible approach to penalize students for something completely out of their control.”

The Democratic bill includes Pell Plus Grants as an incentive to universities who keep tuition low continually. If a school received a Pell Plus Grant, students eligible for financial aid at the university would receive an additional 35 percent of the grant they already received for each year through graduation.

“The bill says to schools who are good players that they can receive additional Pell funds as an incentive,” Bannon said. “The maximum awarded Pell grant this year is $4,050, but under the bill, a student would be eligible for another 35 percent of that.”

But Djihanian believes doling out extra money to schools will not lessen higher education costs for students.

“Blindly throwing more money at colleges isn’t going to be of much help in this situation,” Djihanian said. “Under McKeon’s watch, federal student aid has grown by over $23 billion in four years. For years we’ve increased Pell grant dollars, and the cost of tuition has continued to skyrocket.”

Colleges under both bills would have to report tuition information to the Secretary of Education and the public annually to assure fair tuition prices and to award incentives, something Bannon feels is a good thing.

The Democratic and Republican parties are both satisfied with the structure of their bills, but both agree that some technical changes might be made to the bills through committee processes.

“We are always ready to listen to parents, students and colleges to craft a bill that’s fair, but has also got some teeth that will hold colleges accountable,” Djihanian said.

Bannon thinks no matter how college costs are cut, higher education needs a remedy to its current crisis state.

“The demographics are shifting and more students are realizing that you really need a college degree, to pay the bills and go out there and be successful in the workplace,” Bannon said. “States can’t keep cutting costs at the expense of students ? the buck stops here.”