Bill Text: IL HB0897 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change concerning the Act's purpose.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-29 - House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB0897 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB0897-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB0897 Introduced , by Rep. Bob Morgan SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 947/5
Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act. Makes a technical change concerning the Act's purpose.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/5)
Sec. 5. Purpose. The The General Assembly finds and
declares that (1) the provision of a higher education for all
residents of this State who desire a higher education and are
properly qualified therefor is important to the welfare and
security of this State and Nation and, consequently, is an
important public purpose, and (2) many qualified students are
deterred by financial considerations from completing their
education, with a consequent irreparable loss to the State and
Nation of talents vital to welfare and security. The number of
qualified persons who desire a higher education is increasing
rapidly, and the physical facilities, faculties, and staffs of
the institutions of higher learning operated by, within and for
the residents of the State will have to be expanded greatly to
accommodate those persons, with an attendant sharp increase in
the cost of educating them. A system of financial assistance of
scholarships, grants, and loans for qualified residents of
college age will enable them to attend qualified institutions

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of their choice in the State, public or private. The adoption
of new federal student loan legislation necessitates that the
State update and broaden its system of financial student
assistance.
As market conditions permit, the Commission is
specifically encouraged to offer reasonable and affordable
supplemental or alternative educational loans to students who
seek to obtain these loans. As part of these alternative or
supplemental direct lending initiatives, the Commission may
give priority consideration to students assisted by the
Commission's need-based programs.
The system of financial assistance provided under this Act
includes prepaid programs for college savings, and the
Commission is specifically encouraged to enlist employers in
providing voluntary matching donations to the amount that their
employees save through these prepaid programs.
(Source: P.A. 96-198, eff. 8-10-09.)