House relaxes rules for scholars’ loan repayments

The House of Representatives has passed a bill holding off college loan payments for government scholars who are unable to find jobs because there are no government jobs available or because positions are being filled by foreign workers.

The bill, sponsored by Senate President Pete P. Reyes, passed by a 16-1 vote, despite concerns raised by the CNMI Scholarship Office that the measure was unnecessary and unfair to other scholars who repaid their students loans.

Rep. Tina Sablan was the only House member to vote against the bill, which now heads back to the Senate for approval of the amendments made by the House.

If the bill passes into law, recipients of postsecondary education financial aid from the CNMI would be granted forbearance in the collection of their debts if they are unable to find jobs in the public or private sector due to unavailability of government jobs, hiring freezes, reductions in force, or because positions are being filled by foreign national workers, for as long as the recipient is unemployed and actively seeking employment.

The bill also would grant forbearance to any off-island recipient during the first two years after graduation if he cannot find a job in his field of study. No interest would accrue during the period of forbearance.

The bill further would consider government scholars who have served in the military as having satisfied the requirements to return and work in the CNMI. During debate on the House floor, Sablan proposed to delete this provision. But the House members voted down her proposal.

“Although I recognized the contributions and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, it seemed to me that accepting military service as a means to fulfill CNMI scholarship obligations amounted to a subsidy for the military, and undermined the original purpose of the scholarship program, which is to finance higher education opportunities for our citizens and ultimately bring them back to the islands,” Sablan said in a statement.

Scholarship administrator Merissa Rasa has said the bill is unnecessary because there is already a process in place for granting forbearance to scholarship or loan recipients who are unable to meet their obligations to the CNMI due to some hardship.

Rasa has also said the Scholarship Office is already struggling to hold scholarship and loan recipients accountable for their obligations to return to the CNMI to work and or pay back what they owed. The bill, she added, would weaken the scholarship program even more if signed into law.