NEWS: Legislation Introduced to Limit Government Overreach and Support Students
February 22, 2016
Juneau — Today, Representative Matt Claman (D-Anchorage) introduced legislation that limits state power by repealing statutes that allow the state to not renew occupational licenses for defaulting on a student loan.
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NEWS: Rep. Gara and Rep.-Elect Ortiz Seek to End Excessive Alaska Student Loan Rates
January 15, 2015
Juneau – Rep. Les Gara (D-Anchorage) and Rep.-Elect Dan Ortiz (I-Ketchikan) are pre-filing legislation to lower Alaska’s exorbitant student loan rate, which negatively impacts students chances for higher education and job training.
“We want to give Alaskans an incentive to bring needed job skills back to the state,” said Rep. Gara, who made it through college thanks, in part, to scholarships, work, and low interest loans. “We don’t want high student loan debt to discourage students from staying or returning to Alaska to work.”
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NEWS: Congress’ Student Loan Fix Highlights Need for Alaska Rate Reduction
August 1, 2013
Today’s federal deal doesn’t lower burden of high-cost Alaska student loans
Today, after Congress passed a compromise plan to address federal student loan rates, Representative Les Gara (D-Anchorage) is encouraged that this could improve the chances of finding a way to reduce the high cost of Alaska student loans and help lower the costs of higher education and job training for Alaskans.
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NEWS: As Congress Debates Student Loans, Alaska Should Act
July 18, 2013
Reps. Gara and Tarr reach out to fellow legislators to lower student loan costs
Today, as Congress continues to debate the doubling of federal student loan rates, Representative Les Gara and Representative Geran Tarr (both D-Anchorage) reached out to fellow Alaska lawmakers to help lower the costs of higher education, job training, and high student loan rates for Alaskans. The two lawmakers wrote their colleagues in the House of Representatives seeking their input and collaboration before the 2014 legislative session.
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Note from Rep Gara: Action Alert- Toothless the Cat and Former Foster Youth Who Lost Everything in Monday’s Home Fire
July 17, 2013
A Time To Help
I came back from a great vacation to bad news – that two hard-working former foster youth who are struggling to succeed, and their roommate who works at Campfire and helps foster and disadvantaged youth, lost everything in Monday’s Eastside home fire. This is where we come in.
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