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SPONSOR: |
Stewart |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
HJR 6 |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Loan Repayment for Teacher Education, CA |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Chavez |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
|
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
NFI |
NFI |
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$32.0 |
Non-Recurring |
General
Fund |
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|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HJR 5, HB 367
State
Department of Education (SDE)
Commission
on Higher Education (CHE)
LFC
Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Joint Resolution
6 amends Article 9, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution to provide for a
Teachers’ Loan Repayment Program for persons who are licensed or certified as
elementary or secondary teachers. The
loans eligible for repayment under the program include both federal and
commercial and would authorize payment on the principal and reasonable
interest.
Significant
Issues
House Bill 367 proposes to appropriate $642.0
from the general fund to a new Teacher Loan Repayment Fund which will be used
for the purpose of providing payments for student loans up to $6,000 for a
qualifying teacher. If maximum loan
payments of $6,000 were made, this appropriation would assist 107 qualifying
teachers.
Article 9, Section 14 of the NM Constitution
states “Neither the state nor any county, school district or municipality, except
as otherwise provided in this constitution, shall directly or indirectly
lend or pledge its credit or make any donation to or in aid of any person,
association.. .” Thus, this
amendment to the constitution would provide the authority for the loan
repayment program introduced in House Bill 367, since a constitutional
amendment may be necessary in order to authorize expenditure of public funds to
private individuals.
The Teacher Loan Repayment Program is one of
several strategies introduced to address the teacher shortage in
This legislation was endorsed
by the Legislative Education Study Committee.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
An estimated
non-recurring cost to the general fund of $32.0 is also expected because of the
cost to the Secretary of State for advertising and printing to place an item on
the ballot. This non-recurring cost will
likely be realized in FY05 since the next general election is in November of
2004, unless a special election is called prior to the general election for
this purpose.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Commission of
Higher Education (CHE) states there would be an administrative impact if a
Teacher Loan Repayment Program were to be enacted through House Bill 367.
RELATIONSHIP
House Joint Resolution
6 relates to House Joint Resolution 5 which amends Article 9, Section 14 of the
New Mexico Constitution to permit the state to establish a Teachers’
Loan-for-Service program for students enrolled in teacher preparation programs
at regionally accredited postsecondary education institutions in
House Joint Resolution 6 also relates to House
Bill 367 which proposes to appropriate $642.0 from the general fund to a new
Teacher Loan Repayment Fund.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The State Department of Education (SDE) suggests
that the bill be amended on line 4, page 3, to include “early childhood
teachers.” Early childhood teachers work with children from birth through grade
3 and are not really “elementary teachers.”
FC/ls