Simpson College graduates who stay in Iowa may see a break in their pocketbooks if Republican Sen.-elect Doug Shull gets his bill passed.

“One of the things I worry about for [students] is how much debt [they] have,” Shull said. “I wanted to do something to maybe help that a little bit, because I want to encourage [college graduates] to stay in the state of Iowa.

“I know how good of students [Simpson students] are, and [they] understand work ethics, and just how important [they] would be if this state’s going to grow. We’ve got to keep [college graduates] here. We can’t let [them] go to Kansas City or Chicago.”

Shull said that the Iowa Tuition Grant was the first thing he will talk about to his fellow senators. It will be reduced by 10 percent this semester. The $3,600 maximum amount awarded still does not come close to the gap of $8,000 between private colleges and public universities.

If Shull’s bill passes, college graduates who remain in Iowa will be able to deduct the principal and interest of student loans when filing their income taxes for the year that they continue to pay student loans. The bill will allow graduates to save a significant amount of money, while helping the state of Iowa retain valuable workers.

Shull said he gives Simpson a lot of credit for him being elected.

“I really thought that with the race as close as it was-and it was close-that the difference was Simpson College,” said Shull.

Shull said he originally wanted to do something to help Iowa private colleges since Simpson has helped him. However, the proposed bill will also include equivalent help for graduates of state colleges.

“I want to do something for Simpson,” said Shull. “But I [have] to look at this as a issue for the whole state.”

Now that he’s in office, Shull plans to work on the $4.5 billion state budget as well.

“Now we have a tough budget situation,” said Shull. “I talked to a man who probably understands the whole budget process and the revenues better than anybody, because I wanted to see how bad it is. It’s pretty tough. It’s not terrible, but it’s not the best situation. So we’re going to work on that.”