2023 23LSO-0197
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0202
Pilot student loan payments.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Walters, Northrup,
Sherwood, Sommers and Western and Senator(s)
Gierau and Landen
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to education; providing financial
2 assistance to students obtaining commercial pilot
3 certificates; requiring pilots licensed under this act to
4 fly commercially as specified or repay funds expended by
5 the state; requiring students to satisfy a residency
6 requirement to qualify for the program; allowing the
7 community college commission to forgive student debt where
8 undue hardship exists; requiring reports; providing an
9 appropriation; requiring rulemaking; and providing for
10 effective dates.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
13
14 Section 1. W.S. 21-18-227 is created to read:
15
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2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0197
1 21-18-227. Wyoming airline pilot loan repayment
2 program; eligibility criteria; procedures; program
3 reporting.
4
5 (a) The Wyoming airline pilot loan repayment program
6 is created to be administered by the Wyoming community
7 college commission established under W.S. 21-18-201.
8 Applicants shall have a Wyoming residence, as defined in
9 W.S. 22-1-102(a)(xxx), or shall be graduates of a Wyoming
10 high school and may apply for loans from the program in
11 accordance with this section.
12
13 (b) To qualify for a loan under this section, the
14 applicant shall:
15
16 (i) Be enrolled in good standing in a program at
17 a Wyoming community college for the purpose of receiving an
18 aviation or related degree and a commercial pilot
19 certificate;
20
21 (ii) Intend to obtain an airline transport pilot
22 certification; and
23
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1 (iii) Apply for federal financial assistance.
2
3 (c) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated
4 for this program, loans under this section may be granted
5 to qualified applicants to pay the cost of attendance for
6 the aviation or related program and the commercial pilot
7 certificate specified under paragraph (b)(i) of this
8 section.
9
10 (d) A loan provided under this section shall not
11 exceed the cost of tuition fees for the approved program
12 and the cost of earning the commercial pilot certificate,
13 reduced by the amount of any Pell or other federal grant
14 and any employer based financial assistance received by the
15 applicant.
16
17 (e) A recipient of a loan under this section may
18 repay the loan without cash payment by earning an airline
19 transport pilot certification and actively engaging in
20 commercial aviation as an airline transport pilot employed
21 by an airline that regularly flies into airports within
22 Wyoming for three (3) years.
23
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1 (f) Any recipient of a loan under this section who
2 fails to:
3
4 (i) Complete the academic program for which the
5 loan was provided shall commence cash repayment of the loan
6 no later than forty-five (45) days after the recipient
7 leaves the academic program;
8
9 (ii) Obtain employment in the targeted
10 occupation specified in subsection (e) of this section
11 within two hundred forty (240) days after successfully
12 obtaining the airline transport pilot certification, shall
13 commence cash repayment of the loan within two hundred
14 eighty-five (285) days after successfully obtaining the
15 airline transport pilot certification;
16
17 (iii) Obtain the airline transport pilot
18 certification within two and one-half (2 1/2) years after
19 completion of the aviation or related program and
20 commercial pilot certificate shall commence cash repayment
21 of the loan.
22
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1 (g) Loan repayment options under this section may be
2 deferred for a period not to exceed five (5) years while a
3 loan recipient is serving on full-time active duty with any
4 branch of the military services of the United States.
5
6 (h) The Wyoming community college commission shall
7 have the powers and duties specified under W.S.
8 21-18-202(c) to implement this section and shall establish
9 terms and conditions of loans issued under this section,
10 including:
11
12 (i) Interest rates and loan terms;
13
14 (ii) The form and process for loan application,
15 review and award;
16
17 (iii) Criteria under which students may be
18 relieved from having to repay loans and interest thereon,
19 in whole or in part, where the requirement to repay would
20 cause undue hardship;
21
22 (iv) Criteria for determining the cost of
23 attendance as used in establishing the loan amount for
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1 aviation or related programs and commercial pilot
2 certificates based upon each semester or summer school
3 session of full or part-time program attendance.
4
5 (j) Funding of the loan program established under
6 this section shall be by appropriation of the legislature.
7 The community college commission shall transfer approved
8 loan amounts to the appropriate Wyoming community college.
9
10 (k) Cash repayment of loans and interest thereon
11 shall be credited to the general fund.
12
13 (m) The community college commission shall annually
14 review the loan program established under this section and
15 report to the governor and the legislature in accordance
16 with W.S. 9-2-1014 regarding program results, funds
17 received and loans issued during the preceding academic
18 year, together with the status of all outstanding loan
19 commitments and repayments under the program.
20
21 (n) Any person who receives a loan under this section
22 shall continue to receive funding for the program as the
23 person remains eligible as required by this section.
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1
2 (o) Repayment of loans provided under this section
3 shall continue as specified by this section until all loan
4 obligations have been satisfied.
5
6 Section 2. There is appropriated one million five
7 hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000.00) from the general
8 fund to the Wyoming community college commission for
9 purposes of providing loans for students seeking aviation
10 related degrees and commercial pilot certificates under
11 W.S. 21-18-227 as created by section 1 of this act for the
12 period beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2026.
13 This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for
14 any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds
15 remaining from this appropriation on June 30, 2026 shall
16 revert as provided by law. It is the intent of the
17 legislature that an appropriation to fund the student loans
18 authorized by this act be included in the community college
19 commission's standard budget request for the 2027-2028
20 fiscal biennium.
21
22 Section 3. The community college commission shall
23 promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.
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1
2 Section 4.
3
4 (a) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of
5 this section, this act is effective July 1, 2023.
6
7 (b) Sections 3 and 4 of this act are effective
8 immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a
9 bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of
10 the Wyoming Constitution.
11
12 (END)
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