CSSB 70(L&C): "An Act establishing a loan guarantee and interest rate subsidy program for assistive technology."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 70(L&C) 01 "An Act establishing a loan guarantee and interest rate subsidy program for 02 assistive technology." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature to fund the program established 05 under this Act only with money from federal and private sources. It is not the intent of the 06 legislature to provide money for the program from the state's general fund. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 23.15 is amended by adding a new section to read: 08 Sec. 23.15.125. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LOAN GUARANTEE AND 09 INTEREST SUBSIDY PROGRAM. (a) An assistive technology loan guarantee fund 10 is established in the agency. The fund consists of money appropriated to it. The 11 agency may solicit and accept available federal and private money for distribution from 12 the fund. The agency may not solicit money from the state's general fund. 13 (b) Subject to (c) and (d) of this section, the agency may use money in the 14 fund established under this section to guarantee 90 percent of the principal amount of
01 a loan or to subsidize the interest rate of a loan guaranteed by the agency for 02 appropriate assistive technology that is best suited for enabling 03 (1) a handicapped individual to obtain or maintain employment; or 04 (2) an individual having a physical or mental disability to live more 05 independently. 06 (c) The agency may guarantee a loan or subsidize the interest rate of a loan 07 guaranteed under this section if 08 (1) the loan is made to a handicapped or disabled person or a member 09 of the person's family; 10 (2) the loan is originated and serviced by a state or federally chartered 11 financial institution located in the state; 12 (3) before a loan guarantee or subsidy is requested from a lending 13 institution, the agency determines that the person requesting the loan guarantee or 14 subsidy is not able to obtain the needed assistive technology from a less costly source; 15 (4) the lending institution determines that the person or the family of 16 a child reasonably can be expected to repay the loan given their expected income or 17 other resources; and 18 (5) for a loan to modify a vehicle to provide transportation for a 19 handicapped person, the applicant has been steadily employed for the 90 days 20 immediately preceding the date of the loan application. 21 (d) The director shall establish an assistive technology loan committee within 22 the agency. The committee shall consist of the director, or the director's designee, a 23 representative of a financial institution who is experienced with consumer loans, and 24 at least one but not more than three persons with disabilities. The committee shall 25 (1) establish guidelines for providing loans under this section, including 26 guidelines relating to the maximum amounts and duration of loans and guidelines to 27 ensure that persons with disabilities who live in rural or remote areas of the state have 28 adequate access to loans under this section; 29 (2) annually establish the percentage of money in the fund that may be 30 used for subsidizing the interest rates on loans guaranteed under this section; and 31 (3) make reports and recommendations to the legislature on the
01 operation of the loan program. 02 (e) In this section, "assistive technology" means durable equipment, adaptive 03 aids, and assistive devices. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 23.15.125, enacted by sec. 2 of this Act, is repealed one year after the 05 effective date of the repeal of the grant program for assistive technology under 29 U.S.C. 2211 06 - 2217 unless the federal grant program is replaced by a successor program that provides 07 federal funds for assistive technology loans; in that case, AS 23.15.125, enacted by sec. 2 of 08 this Act, is repealed one year after the effective date of the repeal of the successor program. 09 The director of the division of vocational rehabilitation shall inform the revisor of statutes of 10 any repeal of the grant program for assistive technology under 29 U.S.C. 2211 - 2217 or a 11 successor program.