04/16/2014 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

              SJR 23-CONST. AM: STUDENT LOAN DEBT                                                                           
1:11:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KELLER announced that the  first order of business would be                                                               
SENATE JOINT  RESOLUTION NO.  23, Proposing  an amendment  to the                                                               
Constitution  of  the State  of  Alaska  relating to  contracting                                                               
state debt for postsecondary student loans.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN  moved to adopt SJR  23, labeled 28-LS1394\U,                                                               
as the working document.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:12:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR ANNA  FAIRCLOUGH, Alaska  State Legislature, said  SJR 23                                                               
is  an  opportunity  to  reduce  student  loan  debt  for  Alaska                                                               
students  who choose  to borrow  money.   "Our forefathers  could                                                               
never have thought  about the student loan debt  that this nation                                                               
currently  carries  or an  individual  student  carries in  their                                                               
effort to  seek a life  in the professional sector,"  she stated.                                                               
The  Alaska Student  Loan Corporation  (ASLC),  under this  bill,                                                               
would  have the  power  to issue  debt with  the  full faith  and                                                               
credit of the State of Alaska,  she explained, and then the state                                                               
could offer a lower interest rate to students.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:13:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN asked what the interest rate is.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FAIRCLOUGH  said the  ASLC currently  offers a  7.3 rate,                                                               
and by using the full faith  in credit, she expects it would drop                                                               
at least  one percent.   She noted that  she has another  bill in                                                               
the House  Finance Standing Committee that  would help streamline                                                               
the ASLC and how student loans are provided in Alaska.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:14:00 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG  said  he  has had  various  pieces  of                                                               
legislation over the  years, and the last one was  HJR 31, "which                                                               
simply removes  all limiting  language from  that section,  so it                                                               
would no  longer be  limited to  capital improvements  or housing                                                               
loans for  veterans."  He said  he is glad "we're  moving in this                                                               
direction, because  this is one of  a very few provisions  in the                                                               
[Alaska]  Constitution;  this one  sentence  now  will have  been                                                               
amended  twice, mainly  because  different subjects  come up  for                                                               
loans than they had in the  mid-1950s."  He surmised that at some                                                               
point there  will be  a desire  to have  loans floated  that will                                                               
allow entering  into some  business deals-it  may not  be capital                                                               
construction but  maybe things that  just technically do  not fit                                                               
under  "one of  these  things."   He said  that  he wants  future                                                               
legislatures  to  be  able  to  run  this  state  with  the  most                                                               
flexibility possible and  to let them decide if they  need to use                                                               
this as  a method.   He  referred to a  recent article  by former                                                               
Governor Frank  Murkowski urging  that the Alaska  Permanent Fund                                                               
be used  for "this,"  and Representative  Gruenberg said  he does                                                               
not want to have to use the permanent fund.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:16:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN moved to report  SJR 23 out of committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations and  the  accompanying fiscal  notes.                                                               
Seeing no  objection, SJR  23 passed out  of the  House Judiciary                                                               
Standing Committee.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GRUENBERG  said  he  had  Legislative  Legal  and                                                               
Research Services write  a paper on the very few  sections of the                                                               
Alaska  Constitution  that  have  been amended  more  than  once.                                                               
There are only  two others, he explained, and one  deals with the                                                               
terms  of legislators  and the  other  deals with  the number  of                                                               
judges.  "Nothing at all like this," he added.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:17:25 PM