Legislature(2017 - 2018)BARNES 124
03/22/2017 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR14 | |
| HB157 | |
| HB119 | |
| HB144 | |
| HB86 | |
| HB79 | |
| HB132 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 132 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 144 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 86 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HJR 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 157 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 79 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 86-STUDENT LOAN DEFAULT/OCC. LICENSE RENEWAL
3:52:01 PM
CHAIR KITO announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 86, "An Act relating to nonrenewal of
occupational licenses for default on a student loan."
3:52:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MATT CLAMAN, Alaska State Legislature, reminded
the committee that Thomas Jefferson said, "Government is best
which governs least," and the goal in bringing HB 86 forward is
to revoke the Alaska Commission on Post-Secondary Education's
authority to use non-renewal of occupational licenses as an
incentive to ensure repayment of student loans in the instance
of a default. He described that the consequences of defaulting
are already severe, and as the commission has not exercised its
authority since 2010, it makes sense to repeal these statutes.
3:53:21 PM
OWEN PHILLIPS, Staff, Representative Matt Claman, Alaska State
Legislature, reiterated that HB 86 repeals current statutes
allowing the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE)
to threaten non-renewal of occupational licenses for individuals
who have defaulted on their student loans. Repealing this
authority will allow licensed individuals to continue their work
and earn an income and pay back their defaulted loans without
fear of losing their license. He noted that there are
difficulties one faces if defaulting on their student loans such
as, late fees, court costs, liens on property, and adverse
reports to consumer reporting agencies. Under current statute,
the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) has
authority to provide notice to the licensing authority for non-
renewal of a license. Many of the laws giving authority to the
ACPE were passed in the 1990s and 2000s when student aid was
often provided by states, currently, most loans are provided
federally. Last year, he advised, the State of Montana became
the first state to repeal similar statutes and 21 states still
have similar statutes. This bill allows Alaska to follow the
example of the State of Montana and reduce that number to 20 in
order to protect the state's nurses, pharmacists, social
workers, teachers, correctional officers, and many others.
3:54:47 PM
MR. PHILLIPS offered an analysis of the bill as follows:
Section 1 deletes language that is no longer necessary
after the repeals mentioned in Sec. 2.
Sec. 2 repeals AS 14.43.145(a)(4), which gives ...
authority to the commission to provide notice of
default to a licensing entity for non-renewal of a
license. Repeals AS 14.43.148, which indicates that a
licensing entity may not renew a license if they have
received notice from the commission that the licensee
has defaulted on a loan issued by the commission. AS
21.27.390(d), which references temporary licenses.
3:56:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH remarked that "This is kind of our version
of -- of they're trying to collect on debt," and noted that the
debt collection appeared reasonable. He asked the magnitude of
the debt, and the number of recipients impacted by this
legislation.
MR. PHILLIPS opined that since 2010, the commission has not
acted upon the section forcing the default.
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH remarked that in the event someone misses
their car payments, the "repo man" tows away the car. The State
of Alaska presumably has a fairly significant liability out
there, vis-a-vis many educated folks. Granted the authority
has not been exercised, he remarked, but it is a means of
enforcing collection at some level. He asked the size of the
liability, how rapidly that liability is paid off, the
timeframe, and how many people it impacts.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN responded that the Alaska Student Loan
Corporation has multiple means to encourage payment and this
method has rarely been used because there are fewer Alaska
student loans due to more federal student loans. He related
that taking away someone's nursing license, for example, causes
that person to work at a lower wage and makes the person more
likely to default.
4:00:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH related that he was not disputing whether
HB 86 might be a good idea, his question was whether the
necessary research had been performed in order to understand the
general magnitude of the liability, how many people would be
impacted, and the timeframe in which the loans would be repaid.
MR. PHILLIPS opined that prior to 2010, this non-renewal of
licensing authority was used 155 times, and of those 155
individuals, 49 did not pay any amount, left the state, and
assumed to have found a license elsewhere. He said he would
reach out to Stephanie Butler, Executive Director, Alaska
Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) in response to
Representative Birch's questions.
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH advised he was looking for numbers roughly
to the nearest $500,000.
4:02:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked Representative Claman, "Do you just
read the books until you find a statute that doesn't fit any
longer?" He asked what brought this issue forward because it
had been unused for eight years.
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN credited one idea to a prior staff member
currently attending law school, and answered that someone had
approached the staffer with this issue. The staff member
performed research and realized the non-renewal authorization
was rarely used and brought it to Representative Claman's
attention.
CHAIR KITO opened public testimony. After ascertaining no one
wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 86.
[HB 86 was held over.]