Show j Labor Human Resources 1 r i Senate Human Resources Committee 7 Passes Bill Helping Student Borrowers Borrow rs On M May S. S n te ma Resources 0 r Committee p passed s d a bill in helping stu borrowers r reduce tl their ir rn monthly t y P payment ym nt by So consolidating c Guaranteed student said ad Sen n. n Orrin Hatch R U R-U Utah Jt ah h. h h J ian an it esa said d ent Loan C Consolidation n Act of 1984 S. S 2491 2491 also Benefits en fits banks state state agencies agencies an and the federal edera go govern govern- ern ment Under students students' with students with several be able to consolidate them into a single single loan loan with a lower monthly payment and a longer period of time to pay it off Legislation authorizing the consolidation n of included ed in the Higher Education A Act ct Amendments of 1980 expired on November 1 1983 Hatch said that since the expiration he has received numerous letters from students in Utah and elsewhere who have just completed their education and andare andare andl l are concerned about their loans and payment programs In Utah there are more than borrowers We estimate that the number that need the option to consolidate their loans exceeds and with more than half of those the need is urgent This bill restores that option Hatch said While earlier law limited consolidation activity to the Student Loan Marketing Marketing Marketing Mar Mar- Association Sallie Mae the new bill allows banks state agencies and secondary markets to consolidate loans During the past couple of years state lending institutions have been denied a share in the profits made by Sallie Mae This bill will share the wealth with state institutions and provide healthy competition Hatch said Hatch said the student loan consolidation program has been criticized for its cost to the federal government but this bill would alleviate the cost problem problem pro pro- problem blem by raising the interest rate on consolidation loans from seven percent to nine percent So everyone involved in the program benefits from the government down to the students Hatch said The program was originally designed to help graduates who were likely to default because they were excessively burdened with debts but Hatch said his 4 committee found benefits went to grad utes with above average level entry-level salaries This bill puts the f focus cus back on those who truly nee need l the benefits of a l loan an consolidation program Hatch said Hatch said the e Utah State Higher Education Agency and the state guarantee guarantee guaran guaran- tee agency support this legislation restoring authority for eligible lenders to tomake make consolidation loans Voc Ed Bill Wins Committee Approval Bipartisan legislation that consolidates vocational education programs and e enhances the opportunities unities of single parents and homemakers to obtain marf marketable marketable mar mar- f keta le vocational skills won approval on May 2 from the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources said Sen Orrin Hatch R The Vocational Education Act of 1984 S. S 2341 renews expiring vocational ed education cation law with new programs for people with special needs such as the handicapped the economically disadvantaged and women The bill provides a block bloc grant to states to subsidize vocational education for single parents and homemakers Hatch said this measure is a means to prevent poverty among these two groups of women who have been substantially substantially excluded from other existing programs 0 We hear a lot about the feminization of poverty This bill does s something to en end d. d it H Hatch atc h sal said d c The federal government and Congress Cong in particular has largely ignored the young si single gle parents who are struggling in wage low jobs fobs that barely provide subsistence for themselves and their children Hatch said These r parents are not on welfare they are working poor But because they work they are not eligible for the many programs designed to help the unemployed They deserve a chance to improve their circumstances Also u unjustly justly ignored are the problems of homemakers who want to get or need to get jobs For various various reasons many homemakers need assistance in l learning arning marketable skills This bill helps these people get vocational education tion bon Hatch said Citing a report by the Utah Advisory Committee to the US U.S. Commission on Civil Rights WOl Women en in Nontraditional Jobs Hatch said working women remain poor more often than working men According to the advisory committee committee com corn report fully employed women n remain poor despite their heir work efforts because they hold jobs which traditionally provide little I monetary com pen Hatch said This bill will help alleviate this problem This proposal gives women the chance the they deser deserve e to improve their job marketability by providing provid provid- ing them the opportunity to learn vocational skills The bill supports vocational education of people with special needs such as the handicapped and the economically disadvantaged There are differences in in local situations among the fifty states but every state has substantial a numbers of the people who are the primary concern of this legislation people legislation people who ho O an ant Q I vork r. r lout but Q need an J rt i Serving them should hould be a nation- nation wl e i at 4 h C I C tt d. d l. l d Nt F 11 J ff i. i i. i Y j Senate Approves Block Grant GraY t to Fight Drug Abuse AbUe Alcohol Abuse and Mental Illness U US U.S. Ss Senators recently app approved o ed a 15 billion nt to fight figh dr drug t arid and p k alcohol abuse b S during g the next three fisc fiscal years Chief sponsor sor Hatch Utah Utah R-Utah Alcohol Drug r g Abuse Abase and and Ment Mental lH Health Services r ices Block Amendments of 49 9 4 iS S. S S 2303 JO cont continues s a successful block grant program for treating trea ing r mental illnesses lIne s. s drug abuse and alcoholism Hatch said his bill specially benefits women women e j i children and people over the age of 65 The Senate acted to extend and increase the ADMS block grant authority by authorizing million for fiscal 1985 million for fiscal 1986 and nd million for fiscal 1987 The ADMS lS block grant established by a 1981 Hatch bill gives states greater freedom to set spending priorities The bill provides 7 million a year for alcohol and drug abuse services for women a treatment area Hatch said has been overlooked before Mental Health Services demonstration projects are authorized to receive receive 20 million in fiscal years 1985 through 1987 This is vitally important legislation to millions of families throughout our our nation who are tragically touched by alcoholism drug abuse or m mental illness Hatch said Hatch said states may use their money to set up and improve programs to treat alcohol and drug abuse and for grants to community mental health centers for a variety of mental illness treatment programs Several specific need areas were cited by the Senates Senate's Labor and Human Resources Committee in its report on the bill Hatch is chairman of that committee The committee said half of Americas America's homeless population may be chronically chronically chronically chroni chroni- cally mentally ill over of the mentally ill are incarcerated Hatchs Hatch's bill will find pilot projects to treat people in these groups As many as 3 million children and adolescents who suffer from severe mental disability are re slated for help in the bill And Hatch said mental diseases that strike older Americans in disproportionate numbers are a a prime concern of the legislation These elderly patients suffer emotional and behavioral dysfunctions which are often treatable Expanded mental health services in this bill will provide compassionate mental health care to many elderly people Hatch said The legislation must win approval from the House of Representatives and the White House before becoming law u |