03/12/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

        HB  28-TEACHER/STATE EMPLOYEE STUDENT LOAN PRGRM                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
9:16:55 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  HIMSCHOOT announced  that  the next  order of  business                                                               
would be HOUSE  BILL NO. 28, "An Act establishing  a student loan                                                               
repayment pilot program; and providing for an effective date."                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:17:13 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ANDI STORY,  Alaska State  Legislature, as  prime                                                               
sponsor, presented  HB 28 to  the committee.  She  explained that                                                               
there  has been  a greater  number  of people  leaving from  than                                                               
arriving in  Alaska in  the previous 12  years and  explained how                                                               
that  outmigration has  negatively  affected  various sectors  of                                                               
work  in the  state.   She said  that the  bill is  nicknamed the                                                               
"come back  home bill"  because of its  primary goal  of bringing                                                               
native-born  Alaskans back  to their  home  state. She  explained                                                               
that the  program established  by HB  28 would  be a  three year,                                                               
$8,000  per  year program  that  would  send the  rewarded  funds                                                               
directly  to  the institution  that  the  recipient attended  and                                                               
pointed  the  committee's  attention   to  the  Higher  Education                                                               
Investment Fund (HEIF) that would fund the proposed legislation.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:23:41 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM  asked how long the  bill's proposed policies                                                               
are expected to retain an employee in Alaska.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STORY answered that HB  28 would apply to Alaskan-                                                               
born    people   who    have   attended    university,   obtained                                                               
certifications, and currently live outside of the state.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:26:31 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  UNDERWOOD asked  if a  program that  incentivized                                                               
employees  to live  in rural  Alaska  was enacted  by the  Alaska                                                               
State  Legislature   or  another  agency  in   the  Alaska  state                                                               
government.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:27:54 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KERRY  THOMAS, Acting  Executive Director,  Alaska Commission  on                                                               
Postsecondary   Education,  Department   of  Education   &  Early                                                               
Development,  On  behalf  of  Representative  Andi  Story,  prime                                                               
sponsor, answered committee  questions on HB 28.   She shared her                                                               
understanding that Representative Underwood  was referring to the                                                               
Teacher Education Loan Program (TELP),  which is no longer active                                                               
due to a lack of funding.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:28:53 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT  asked if the TELP  had a cap on  the funds it                                                               
would repay participants.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS. THOMAS answered that someone  could've attended any school at                                                               
any cost and the TELP would have paid for it.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:29:12 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD  asked about the difference  between the                                                               
proposed policies of HB 28 and the TELP.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MS. THOMAS explained that both  of the programs are fundamentally                                                               
different  because  the  TELP  program  was  a  loan  forgiveness                                                               
program and HB 28 proposes a loan repayment program.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
9:31:51 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SCHWANKE asked  Representative Story  to describe                                                               
who would qualify for the proposed policies of HB 28.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STORY  explained that HB  28 was introduced  as an                                                               
"antidote" to the outmigration that  has been occurring in Alaska                                                               
over recent  years and  gave a  hypothetical scenario  to explain                                                               
how a person might qualify for the proposed policies of HB 28.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:35:35 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. THOMAS  added that HB  28 says  that "the person  should have                                                               
resided  outside of  the  state  for at  least  12 months  before                                                               
beginning    full-time   employment".    She   said    that   her                                                               
interpretation  of the  bill  is that  whether  someone would  be                                                               
eligible to receive  the proposed benefits of HB 28  or not would                                                               
unaffected  by  their  residency   status,  rather  it  would  be                                                               
contingent on how long they have been out of the state.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:36:54 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT  thanked the invited testifiers  and announced                                                               
that HB 28 would be held over.