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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Perkins Loan Program was first authorized in
31958 and is the oldest student loan program in the nation; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Perkins Loans serve students with exceptional
5financial needs and provides unique benefits to borrowers such
6as low fixed interest rates, longer grace periods, flexible
7repayment terms, and generous forgiveness programs; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Perkins Loans are designed to help the most
9economically disadvantaged students pay for school by removing
10the barriers that limit access to credit for these students
11such as needing a cosigner to apply for loans, and requiring
12the students to have good credit; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Throughout the 59-year history of the Perkins Loan
14Program, over $8 billion in federal funding was awarded to more
15than 30 million undergraduate and graduate students
16nationwide; and
 
17    WHEREAS, During the 2014-2015 academic year, over 39,000
18low-income students in Illinois relied on more than $66 million
19in Perkins Loans at 59 schools across the State; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Perkins Loan Program is especially important

 

 

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1to Illinois residents given the current budget impasse and the
2lack of funding for the State's Monetary Award Program that
3provides financial assistance to low-income students; and
 
4    WHEREAS, There is no replacement for the Perkins Loan
5Program, and absent congressional action, it could be
6discontinued and all the benefits of this important program
7could be lost; therefore, be it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
9HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
10urge President Trump and the United States Congress to
11permanently reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program in order to
12provide our students with the financial resources they need to
13attend college and position themselves for upward
14socioeconomic mobility; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16delivered to President Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Majority
17Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles
18Schumer, U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul
19Ryan, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy
20Pelosi, and all members of the Illinois Congressional
21Delegation.