After a long coordination period, the bill has now entered the legislative process. ŠOS had initially intended to submit the bill with 5000 voter signatures, but because of the need to coordinate technical details with the legislative legal team of the National Assembly, the drafting of the bill was delayed so much that the collection of signatures was no longer possible before the summer parliamentary recess. "Because the parliamentary recess would have delayed the process until the fall, we came to an agreement with National Assembly President Milan Brglez. He will now submit the bill into parliamentary procedure as the first bill among equals," said Spremo.

Now the Student Union will try to convince parliamentary parties and the relevant ministries to support the bill. "We wish to present our suggestions, and we naturally want everyone to support us." When asked how much support they are expecting based on past conversations, Spremo responded succinctly: "It looks good so far."

A modification of six laws
The proposed ZUPŠ bill would bring changes to six other laws, just as the Fiscal Balance Act (ZUJF) modified several laws during the financial crisis. With the passage of the bill, legislation regulating income would change, meaning that the tax break for students would increase from 2477.03 euros to 3302.70 euros, which would considerably improve the financial situation of students. The second proposed change would affect student food subsidies, which have been modified by ZUJF.

Insured even after 26?
The ZUPŠ bill also calls for a change to health insurance legislation. The right to health insurance would now depend to the official status of high school and university students and would no longer be limited to those aged 26 and under. Among the proposals is a modification to legislation governing the use of public funds; the change would enable foreign citizens who live in Slovenia to receive scholarships. By changing the Scholarship Act, recipients of scholarships who fulfill criteria for additional housing funds would now be able to receive them.

The final piece of legislation that ZUPŠ would modify is the Higher Education Act. The proposals would regulate the status of students with special needs, as well as students with special statuses, such as athletes, artists, or parents. The change would require the ministry to apply a special rulebook to regulate their status. Another modification would affect the extension of student status to the end of the school year during higher level studies.

Luka Lukič
Translated by J. B.