Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and I, with a team of
Republican legislators, created the College Affordability
Legislative Package to address student loan debt and increase
the success of college students. Governor Walker highlighted the
College Affordability Package at his State of the State Address and has traveled around the state to promote it.
These bills will benefit both current students and graduates. The
package provides students with: additional information about
their student loans so they can make smart financial decisions;
emergency assistance so they can stay in school; tax breaks when
paying back their student loans; and internship opportunities to
connect them with Wisconsin employers to help students get
better jobs and reduce our state's brain-drain.
The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, which I chair,
held an executive session yesterday and passed all six bills out
of committee.
Because some bills appropriate money, they will have to go
through the Joint Finance Committee before they can be voted on
by the full Assembly. It is important to me that the
legislature uses available funding to invest in our students so
they can succeed in college and succeed in the workforce.
Leaders from the Wisconsin Technical College System, 2-year UW
Colleges, UW System, student government, Wisconsin Association
of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Higher
Educational Aids Board have expressed their approval of this
package and the beneficial advantages it will offer thousands of
students across the state.
Here are the details of each bill:
1)
AB 741 Establish an Emergency Program at 2-year UW colleges and
Technical Colleges (Reps. Murphy, Heaton, Novak and Senator Marklein): Provides $450,000 in grants to assist students
who are working hard to complete their degree, but experience a
financial emergency that could cause them to drop out of school.
2)
AB 744 Financial Literacy Information for Students (Reps. Murphy,
Krug, VanderMeer and Senator Marklein): Requires all higher
education institutions to send students a letter with details
about their loans every school year and provide financial literacy
information in their first semester so they can make better
decisions about their financial future.
3)
AB 742 Fund Internship Coordinators at the Department of
Workforce Development (Reps. Murphy, Bernier, Kitchens and
Senators Marklein and Gudex): Uses $200,000 of
existing Fast Forward money to create two internship coordinator
positions at DWD to connect employers with Wisconsin
universities and create internship opportunities.
4)
AB 743 Fund Internship Coordinators for the University of
Wisconsin (Reps. Murphy, Petryk, Tranel and Senator Marklein):
Provides $500,000 for the UW to create internship
coordinators to connect employers with UW institutions and
create internship opportunities.
5)
AB 739 Eliminate the Cap on the Tax Deduction for Student Loan
Interest (Reps. Macco, Murphy and Senator Marklein): Saves
student loan debt payers about $5.2 million annually statewide
by allowing students to deduct all interest paid on student
loans. The benefits of this bill are targeted to the middle class.
6)
AB 740 Increase Wisconsin Grants for Technical College Students
(Rep. Heaton and Senator Harsdorf): This bill will benefit
more than 1,000 technical college students by increasing the
needs-based Wisconsin Grants by $1 million in the biennium or
$500,000 annually.
Rep. Murphy chairing the Assembly Colleges and Universities
Committee meeting on the College Affordability
Package
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I'd like to share the last part of this conversation that I had with Egide Nimubona
back in November. Egide is
the founder and Executive Director of the The Burundi Education
Fund, Inc. and he teaches mechanical engineering at Fox Valley
Technical College. Egide shares
his incredible story as a refugee from the country of Burundi.
He talks about the importance of
education and how his organization gives back to the community
by supporting the youth in Burundi so they can pursue their
education. You can find out
more about the Burundi
Education Fund, Inc. here.
Click the photo to watch the video (approximately
11 minutes).
This is the second series of videos in an effort to highlight
constituents of the 56th District so you have the opportunity to
learn about some of the dedicated public servants we have in our
own community. |
"Like" Representative Murphy's
Official Facebook Page
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Welcome!
I live in Greenville, but have an
office at the State Capitol in Madison. If you are in
downtown Madison, please feel free to stop by and say
hello! Just go to the information desk in the rotunda,
and they can direct you on how to find my office, 318
North. At the bottom of each e-update, you'll see my
office contact information.
If your school or group plans to tour the Capitol
building, please let me know in advance. I'd
love to visit with you for a few minutes and take a
group photo.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
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