00HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 10                                                                                               
01 Relating to the student loan program.                                                                                   
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:                                                                        
03  WHEREAS the Alaska student loan program offers financial support to thousands of                                     
04 students in pursuing higher education; and                                                                              
05  WHEREAS the Alaska student loan program was at one time in financial difficulty;                                     
06 and                                                                                                                     
07  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature passed legislation in 1996 amending the                                         
08 Alaska student loan program to make it financially sound; and                                                           
09  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature passed legislation in 1997 again amending                                       
10 the Alaska student loan program to increase its financial soundness; and                                                
11  WHEREAS HB 256 am was one of the bills that passed the legislature in 1997                                           
12 regarding the Alaska student loan program; and                                                                          
13  WHEREAS HB 256 am was amended in the House of Representatives to clarify how                                         
14 long the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education must track student loan payments                                  

01 to determine institution default rates; and                                                                             
02  WHEREAS the staff of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education is                                             
03 interpreting the amendment to HB 256 am adopted by the House of Representatives to require                              
04 student loans to be tracked for a period of three years after the loans enter repayment; and                            
05  WHEREAS the sponsor of the amendment adopted by the House of Representatives                                         
06 offered the amendment to require the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to track                              
07 student loans for a period of one year after the loans enter repayment; and                                             
08  WHEREAS the language of the amendment to HB 256 adopted by the House of                                              
09 Representatives clearly and unambiguously requires the commission to track student loans for                            
10 a period of one year after the loans enter repayment; and                                                               
11  WHEREAS educational institutions cannot reasonably be held responsible for the                                       
12 payment of their student loans after more than one year.                                                                
13  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature declares that it was the intent                                     
14 of HB 256 am to require the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education to track student                               
15 loans for a period of one year after those loans have entered repayment and not to authorize                            
16 the commission to track loans for a period longer than one year.