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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Perkins Loan Program was first authorized in | ||||||
| 3 | 1958 and is the oldest student loan
program in the nation; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Perkins Loans serve students with exceptional | ||||||
| 5 | financial needs and provides unique
benefits to borrowers such | ||||||
| 6 | as low fixed interest rates, longer grace periods, flexible | ||||||
| 7 | repayment
terms, and generous forgiveness programs; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Perkins Loans are designed to help the most | ||||||
| 9 | economically disadvantaged students
pay for school by removing | ||||||
| 10 | the barriers that limit access to credit for these students | ||||||
| 11 | such as
needing a cosigner to apply for loans, and requiring | ||||||
| 12 | the students to have good credit; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, Throughout the 59-year history of the Perkins Loan | ||||||
| 14 | Program, over $8 billion in
federal funding was awarded to more | ||||||
| 15 | than 30 million undergraduate and graduate students
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| 16 | nationwide; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, During the 2014-2015 academic year, over 39,000 | ||||||
| 18 | low-income students in Illinois
relied on more than $66 million | ||||||
| 19 | in Perkins Loans at 59 schools across the State; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The Perkins Loan Program is especially important | ||||||
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| 1 | to Illinois residents given the
current budget impasse and the | ||||||
| 2 | lack of funding for the State's Monetary Award
Program that | ||||||
| 3 | provides financial assistance to low-income students; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, There is no replacement for the Perkins Loan | ||||||
| 5 | Program, and absent congressional
action, it could be | ||||||
| 6 | discontinued and all the benefits of this important
program | ||||||
| 7 | could be lost; therefore, be it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 9 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 10 | urge President
Trump and the United States Congress to | ||||||
| 11 | permanently reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program in
order to | ||||||
| 12 | provide our students with the financial resources they need to | ||||||
| 13 | attend college and
position themselves for upward | ||||||
| 14 | socioeconomic mobility; and be it further
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| 15 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 16 | delivered to President Donald Trump, U.S.
Senate Majority | ||||||
| 17 | Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles | ||||||
| 18 | Schumer, U.S.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul | ||||||
| 19 | Ryan, U.S. House of Representatives Minority
Leader Nancy | ||||||
| 20 | Pelosi, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | ||||||
| 21 | Delegation.
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