Bill Text: NJ S1625 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires annual report on New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program to include information on borrower delinquency and administrative wage garnishments.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-04 - Reported from Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading [S1625 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S1625-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires annual report on New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program to include information on borrower delinquency and administrative wage garnishments.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the NJCLASS Loan Program and amending P.L.2017, c.129.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2017, c.129 (C.18A:71C-21.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. The authority shall annually submit to the Governor and to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly a report on the NJCLASS Loan Program. The report shall be submitted no later than August 1 of each year and shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: the principal amount of bonds issued to finance the NJCLASS Loan Program in the prior year and the interest rates offered on those bonds; the total principal amount of authority bonds that are outstanding, the interest rates on the bonds, and the retirement schedule for those bonds; the total number and principal amount of outstanding NJCLASS loans, and the total number and principal amount of NJCLASS loans contracted in the prior year; the total number of NJCLASS loans that are in delinquency for each income level and the number that entered delinquency in the prior year for each income level; the number of administrative wage garnishment orders the authority initiated in the prior year against NJCLASS borrowers, the number of administrative wage garnishment orders issued, the number of delinquent loans that did not go into default as a result of collections through administrative wage garnishment, and the total and median amount received by the authority from those administrative wage garnishment orders; the total number of NJCLASS loans that are in default for each income level and the number that entered default in the prior year for each income level, the total number of loan collection lawsuits that have been filed under the program for each income level, and the number of loan collection lawsuits that were filed in the prior year for each income level and the status of those lawsuits; the number of requests filed in the prior year with the authority for the forgiveness of an NJCLASS loan due to the death or total and permanent disability of the borrower, the number of requests that were granted or denied, and the reasons for the denial of requests; the number of requests filed in the prior year with the authority for a loan deferment, the type of deferment requested by the borrower, the number of requests that were granted or denied, and the reasons for the denial of requests; and the number of forbearance requests filed in the prior year with the authority, the number of requests that were granted or denied, and the reasons for the denial of requests.
b. As used in this section, "income level" shall be defined, and periodically updated, by the executive director of the authority in a manner that is consistent with the quintile income levels established by the United States Census Bureau in its reports on income.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.129, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires additional information to be included in the annual report on the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program.
Current law requires the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) to annually submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the General Assembly a report on the NJCLASS Loan Program. This bill requires the report to include additional information on: the total number of NJCLASS loans that are in delinquency for each income level and the number that entered delinquency in the prior year for each income level; the number of delinquent loans that did not go into default as a result of collections through administrative wage garnishment; the number of administrative wage garnishment orders HESAA initiated in the prior year against NJCLASS borrowers; the number of administrative wage garnishment orders issued; and the total and median amount received by HESAA from administrative wage garnishment orders.
The bill also requires that certain information reported by HESAA on the NJCLASS loan program be reported for each income level. The bill requires that "income level" be defined, and periodically updated, by the executive director of the authority in a manner that is consistent with the quintile income levels established by the United States Census Bureau in its reports on income. Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2020:
· households in the lowest quintile had incomes of $27,026 or less;
· households in the second quintile had incomes from $27,027 to $52,179;
· households in the third quintile had incomes from $52,180 to $85,076;
· households in the fourth quintile had incomes from $85,077 to $141,110; and
· households in the highest quintile had incomes of $141,111 or more.
Under current law, HESAA can pursue administrative wage garnishment during loan delinquency. The current annual NJCLASS loan program's reporting requirements provide information on loans in default and collection actions taken on those loans, but does not currently provide information on loans in delinquency or collections actions taken as a result. The sponsor's intent is to update the reporting requirements to provide this information.
Additionally, the bill requires loan debt statistics to be reported by income bracket in addition to the aggregate numbers currently reported. The sponsor's intent is to ensure HESAA and the Legislature can fully understand the NJCLASS loan program's impact by class, and ensure the program is successfully serving individuals in all income brackets.
