Consumer Advisory:Student Loan “Rescue” Companies Are No Lifeline! July 2014

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about:Student Loan “Rescue” Companies Are No Lifeline!

Issue review : projected impact of elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

The federal Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 ended the Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFELP, and no new FFELP loans will be issued after June 30, 2010. The Iowa College Student Aid Commission received approximately 14 million dollars of its 14.7 million dollar fiscal year 2010 administrative budget from the various fees associated with the FFELP program and services. With the cessation of FFELP loans, the commission project's revenues will decline, as the currently existing FFELP loans are paid off, beginning with a 2.7 million dollar decline in fiscal year 2011. This issue review examines the prison system fiscal year 2010 budget, including receipts and expenditures, average annual costs, personnel and inmate assaults.

Beginning Farmer Loan Program, Summary of Loan Programs, February 1, 2013

Beginning Farmer Loan Program, Summary of Loan Programs

2015-16 Student Loan Repayment and Forgiveness Programs

Many loan repayment and incentive programs are available to encourage college students and graduates to enter into and continue to work in designated high-need careers. More and more Iowans are reaping the rewards of these federal, state and private programs that help reduce student loan debt while allowing them to pursue their career goals. Some programs make payments directly to the recipient’s student loan servicer to reduce the balance owed (loan repayment), while others may provide the option of an income stipend or bonus for eligible recipients who meet specified employment and other criteria. This guide provides information on many of the federal and state loan repayment and incentive programs currently available.

Student Loan Repayment & Incentive Programs

Brochure highlighting common Student Loan Forgiveness/Repayment and Incentive programs available from the State of Iowa and federal governments. Areas highlighted include programs in education, health care, legal and public service/government employment. Brochure also answers common questions about Loan Forgiveness/Repayment and Incentive programs. Product code: IC-INCENTIVE, Rev. date: 7/16

How Much “Safety” Is Available under the U.S. Proposal to the WTO?, November 2005

Critics of the U.S. proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) made in October 2005 are correct when they argue that adoption of the proposal would significantly reduce available support under the current farm program structure. Using historical prices and yields from 1980 to 2004, we estimate that loan rates would have to drop by 9 percent and target prices would have to drop by 10 percent in order to meet the proposed aggregate Amber Box and Blue Box limits. While this finding should cheer those who think that reform of U.S. farm programs is long overdue, it alarms those who want to maintain a strong safety net for U.S. agriculture. The dilemma of needing to reform farm programs while maintaining a strong safety net could be resolved by redesigning programs so that they target revenue rather than price. Building on a base of 70 percent Green Box income insurance, a program that provides a crop-specific revenue guarantee equal to 98 percent of the product of the current effective target price and expected county yield would fit into the proposed aggregate Amber and Blue Box limits. Payments would be triggered whenever the product of the season-average price and county average yield fell below this 98 percent revenue guarantee. Adding the proposed crop-specific constraints lowers the coverage level to 95 percent. Moving from programs that target price to ones that target revenue would eliminate the rationale for ad hoc disaster payments. Program payments would automatically arrive whenever significant crop losses or economic losses caused by low prices occurred. Also, much of the need for the complicated mechanism (the Standard Reinsurance Agreement) that transfers most risk of the U.S. crop insurance to the federal government would be eliminated because the federal government would directly assume the risk through farm programs. Changing the focus of federal farm programs from price targeting to revenue targeting would not be easy. Farmers have long relied on price supports and the knowledge that crop losses are often adequately covered by heavily subsidized crop insurance or by ad hoc disaster payments. Farmers and their leaders would only be willing to support a change to revenue targeting if they see that the current system is untenable in an era of tight federal budgets and WTO limits.

2007 Annual Report of the Iowa Railway Finance Authority

The Iowa Railway Finance Authority (IRFA) was created in 1980 by the 68th General Assembly to provide for the financing of rail facilities, and to enhance and continue the operation of essential rail facilities. IRFA was authorized to offer financial assistance for the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, refinancing, extension, replacement, maintenance, repair or leasing of any rail facility. The 2005 legislative session amended Iowa Code 327H.20 by assigning all repayments of IRFA and other Iowa DOT rail assistance loans to the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Fund. In 2006, a state appropriation of $235,000 was added to the program. In 2007, $2 million was appropriated to support rail development and job growth.

Report pursuant to House File 2782 (2007 Infrastructure Appropriations Act)

House File 2782 (2007 Infrastructure Appropriations Act) requires state agencies that receive Appropriations from specified funds to report that information. The Iowa Department of Transportation received funds from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, the State Recreational Trails Fund, Health Restricted Capitals, Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program and the Tobacco settlement in FY 2008.

2008 Annual Report of the Iowa Railway Finance Authority

The Iowa Railway Finance Authority (IRFA) was created in 1980 by the 68th General Assembly to provide for the financing of rail facilities and to enhance and continue the operation of essential rail facilities. IRFA was authorized to offer financial assistance for the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, refinancing, extension, replacement, maintenance, repair, or leasing of any rail facility. Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program The 2005 legislative session amended Iowa Code 327H.20 by assigning all repayments of IRFA and other Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) rail assistance loans to the Rail Revolving Loan and Grant Program (RRLGP). In addition, the following annual appropriations were allocated to the fund: • FY 2007: $235,000 • FY 2008: $2 million • FY 2009: $2 million Since the creation of the RRLGP in 2005, IRFA has awarded funding to 23 projects totaling over $7.2 million in grants and loans in its three rounds of competitive funding. These projects have pledged to create 1,672 jobs within two years of project completion and 1,361 jobs have been retained. Funded projects are associated with over $2 billion in total private capital investment. In 2008, the IRFA Board directed all available funds be used to help repair railroads devastated by summer flooding. On July 31, $3.9 million in deferred payment loans were offered to seven Iowa based railroads to allow for immediate repair of rail beds, including the cost of materials, labor and equipment.

The State of the Judiciary, 2009

Thank you for inviting me again this year to talk with you about the condition of Iowa’s judicial branch. As your partner in government, we look forward to working with you on issues affecting the administration of justice. If I could capture the condition of our courts, indeed the condition of our state, in a few words, it would be: “We live in challenging times.” No one knows the true meaning of this phrase better than those Iowans hit by natural disasters. But my focus today is, of course, on the courts. Ensuring the delivery of equal, affordable and accessible justice is always challenging work, but it will be especially so this year and the next in light of the State’s budget problems. Given the magnitude of this challenge, it is even more imperative that we work together in the spirit of unity, candor and cooperation. And I address you today in this spirit. We are deeply concerned, as you are, about the present financial situation and its effect on individual Iowans. Naturally, we are particularly troubled about its impact on the delivery of justice to our citizens. Even in good economic times, the administration of justice is difficult to fulfill given the sheer volume and complexity of problems Iowans bring to their courthouses. Because of the effects of the nation’s economic downturn, people will need access to justice now more than ever. We already see this happening. The number of mortgage foreclosure cases in Iowa rose 14% in the past year. Debt collection cases increased 20% in the same time. An increase in these types of cases is predictable in tough economic times, but other types of problems may escalate as well. Some experts fear that a recession may also give rise to more crime, child abuse, domestic violence, and substance abuse. Naturally, for the sake of the people who may be harmed by these problems, we hope they do not occur. If they do, however, these matters will demand our immediate attention.