Bill Text: HI HCR129 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 129 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Task Force; University of Hawaii; Pay Forward, Pay Back Program

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-12 - Referred to HED, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR129 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR129-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	129
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

CONVENing A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF establishing A PAY FORWARD, PAY BACK PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that two-thirds of students graduating from American colleges and universities are graduating with some level of debt; and

WHEREAS, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, federal student loan debt topped $1 trillion in 2013, with an additional $200 billion in private student loans; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Reserve reports that aside from mortgages, student loans are now the most widely held debt in the United States; and

WHEREAS, as increases in college tuition continue to outpace gains in family income, more students will find post-secondary education unaffordable; and

WHEREAS, the skyrocketing costs of college tuition drive income inequality by depriving those of less means of the schooling necessary to bridge the income gap; and

WHEREAS, a number of states are working to cut costs for higher education, such as Oregon, which has developed a pay forward, pay back program funding model; and

WHEREAS, Oregon's "Pay It Forward" funding model is a pilot program that replaces tuition with contributions from graduates that are deposited into a state trust fund to be expended for future post-secondary students; and

WHEREAS, innovative methods of ensuring that residents and students in Hawaii have access to affordable education to further their post-secondary opportunities are worthy of consideration and examination to support financing postsecondary education and address the ever-increasing amount of college tuition debt faced by students and their families; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that a task force be convened to study the feasibility of establishing a pay forward, pay back program at the University of Hawaii to replace or augment the current system of charging students tuition and fees for enrollment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Interim President of the University of Hawaii convene and serve as the chair of the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force comprise the following or their designated representatives:

(1) Interim President of the University of Hawaii;

(2) President of the Associated Students at the University of Hawaii;

(3) Project Director of The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii;

(4) Superintendent of Education;

(5) Director of Finance;

(6) Director of Taxation;

(7) Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education;

(8) Chair of the House Committee on Higher Education; and

(9) Any other person deemed advisable for inclusion on the task force by the Interim President of the University of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed pilot program details and any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Interim President of the University of Hawaii, President of the Associated Students at the University of Hawaii, Project Director of The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii, Superintendent of Education, Director of Finance, and Director of Taxation.