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