A bill currently under consideration in the state Legislature's Colleges and Universities Committee would prevent convicted drug dealers from receiving state financial aid. Assembly Bill 151, introduced by Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, would mirror a federal law that places similar restrictions on federal financial aid eligibility. With limited state education funds, Mr. Hahn claims the bill is necessary to ensure law-abiding students are the ones receiving financial aid.

Despite Mr. Hahn's feigned concern for fiscal responsibility, we have a hard time believing this would do anything substantive for the state's finances. In 2005-06, the state distributed $90 million in aid to students. In a study analyzing the effects of the more severe federal financial aid restrictions, Students for Sensible Drug Policy found that 1 in 400 applicants were denied aid. If similar numbers held true for this bill, Mr. Hahn's proposal would not even save the state half-a-million dollars — without even considering implementation costs.

Worse, the intent of the bill completely undercuts the alleged purpose of financial aid: to assist those who otherwise would have difficulty paying for college. Cutting funds from students with drug offenses would take aid from those who likely need it most. While the bill does allow eligibility to be reinstated after two years or upon completion of a drug rehabilitation program, these caveats do little to mitigate the overall burden of the bill.

From the perspective in Madison, this bill is especially disappointing in light of the recent announcement by the Dane County District Attorney's office, stating it would no longer file criminal charges against individuals possessing less than roughly one ounce of marijuana. This welcome move came with the understanding that violent crime should be the priority in the city. In contrast, our state government representatives seem dogmatically intent on throwing the book at this non-violent class of citizens.

Indeed, the justification for this bill is critically flawed. If Mr. Hahn is so concerned with the prospect of law-breaking students from receiving aid, perhaps he'd like to amend the bill to cut funding from students who illegally gamble online, download pirated music or jaywalk.

This bill's provisions would also be difficult to implement. According to a UW official familiar with the matter, the UW System is not equipped or staffed to keep track of drug offenses that occur off campus.

Doling out punishments is a responsibility best left to the courts — not the state Legislature. The Legislature already has enough important university-related issues to be concerned with, like stem-cell research, domestic partner benefits and overall UW System financing. The last thing they need is a debate over a petty, ill-conceived bill designed more to score self-righteous legislators cheap political points than to improve public policy.