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2017 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

Saslaw (Chairman), Black, Chase, Cosgrove, Petersen

Clerk: Patty Lung, Rhonda Johnson
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: January 24, 2017
Time and Place: Immediately Upon Adjournment - 4th Floor East Conf. Rm.

S.B. 907

Patron: Surovell

Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; leadership; residency. Requires each chairman, vice-chairman, rector, and vice-rector of the governing board of a public institution of higher education and each chairman and vice-chairman of each committee of the governing board of a public institution of higher education to be a resident of the Commonwealth.

S.B. 1035

Patron: Howell

Student loan servicers; student loan ombudsman. Prohibits any person from acting as a student loan servicer without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks and credit unions are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a student loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a student loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments with respect to the amounts received from a student loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a student education loan. Student loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a student loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) knowingly misapplying or recklessly applying student loan payments to the outstanding balance of a student loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. The measure also establishes the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman within the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is required to provide timely assistance to any student loan borrower of any student education loan in the Commonwealth. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is further required to establish and maintain a student loan borrower education course, which shall cover key loan terms, documentation requirements, monthly payment obligations, income-based repayment options, loan forgiveness, and disclosure requirements. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2017.

S.B. 1036

Patron: Howell

Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority; refinancing loan guaranty program. Establishes the Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority (the Authority), to be governed by a 10-member board, for the purpose of developing and implementing a program by which the Authority may guarantee the obligations of an individual who incurred qualified education loan debt as a Virginia student at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth under loans that refinance such education loan debt. The Authority is authorized to issue bonds to finance its obligations under such loan guarantees.

S.B. 1053

Patron: Howell

Student loan servicers; student loan ombudsman. Prohibits any person from acting as a student loan servicer without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks and credit unions are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a student loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a student loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments with respect to the amounts received from a student loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a student education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a student education loan. Student loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a student loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) knowingly misapplying or recklessly applying student loan payments to the outstanding balance of a student loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. The measure also establishes the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman within the SCC's Bureau of Financial Institutions. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is required to provide timely assistance to any student loan borrower of any student education loan in the Commonwealth. The Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is further required to establish and maintain a student loan borrower education course, which shall cover key loan terms, documentation requirements, monthly payment obligations, income-based repayment options, loan forgiveness, and disclosure requirements. Violations are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $2,500. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019.

S.B. 1121

Patron: McPike

Dependents of certain military personnel; in-state tuition. Provides that dependents of active duty military personnel and veterans who are eligible to receive educational assistance under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and have transferred the educational assistance to the dependent are eligible to receive in-state tuition if the military personnel or veteran within the last five years was (i) assigned to a permanent duty station or workplace in the Commonwealth, the District of Columbia, or a state contiguous to the Commonwealth and resided in the Commonwealth; (ii) assigned unaccompanied orders and immediately prior to receiving such unaccompanied orders was assigned to a permanent duty station or workplace in the Commonwealth, the District of Columbia, or a state contiguous to the Commonwealth and resided in the Commonwealth; or (iii) assigned unaccompanied orders with the Commonwealth listed as the designated place move.

S.B. 1353

Patron: DeSteph

Higher education; members of governing boards; duties. Provides that the primary duty of any member of a governing board of a public institution of higher education is to the Commonwealth. The bill requires that the educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education, developed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, shall include presentations on such primary duty.

S.B. 1371

Patron: Saslaw

Virginia Research Investment Committee. Expands the role of the Virginia Research Investment Committee (the Committee) to include, in addition to awarding grants and loans from the Virginia Research Investment Fund, providing guidance and coordination in the use of public funds to support research and commercialization efforts throughout the Commonwealth. The bill moves responsibility for the development of the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap from the Center for Innovative Technology to the Committee.

The bill also clarifies that the exemption from mandatory disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act by applicants for grants and loans from the Committee applies to certain financial records, trade secrets, and research-related information. The bill requires an applicant seeking to invoke the protections of the exemption to submit a written request to the Committee identifying the records or data for which protection is sought and stating the reason why protection is necessary. The exemption would also apply to documents prepared exclusively for the application review by the Committee, its staff, or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review at the request of the Committee. The closed meeting exemption would also be amended to include interviews of applicants by the Committee or a reviewing entity conducting a scientific review.

The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 1376

Patron: Petersen

Public institutions of higher education; public notice of proposed tuition increase. Prohibits the governing board of a public institution of higher education from approving an increase in tuition or mandatory fees without first providing students, parents, and the public a brief synopsis of the proposed increase and notice of the date, time, and location of any vote on the increase at least 30 days prior to such vote and providing an opportunity for public comment on such proposed increase at a board meeting at least two meetings in advance of such vote.

S.B. 1405

Patron: Surovell

Public institutions of higher education; notice of proposed tuition increase. Prohibits the governing board of a public institution of higher education from approving an increase in tuition or mandatory fees without first publishing in a prominent location on the institution's website a brief synopsis of the proposed increase including an explanation of the need for such increase and the maximum potential amount of such increase and notice of the date, time, and location of any vote on the increase at least 30 days prior to such vote. The bill requires a copy of the synopsis and the notice to be emailed to each student and requires that public comment be accepted at any hearing on the increase.