New York State Assembly

 
•  Summary 
 
•  Actions 
 
•  Committee Votes 
 
•  Floor Votes 
 
•  Memo 
 
•  Text 
 
•  LFIN 
 
•  Chamber Video/Transcript 

A06938 Summary:

A06938 Actions:

A06938 Committee Votes:

Committee:HIGHER EDUCATION   Chair:Glick      
DATE:02/08/2022AYE/NAY:20/4  Action: Favorable refer to committee Codes        
Glick
Aye
Walczyk
Nay
Gottfried
Aye
Smith
Aye
Englebright
Aye
Fitzpatrick
Nay
Cahill
Aye
Reilly
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Salka
Nay
Lupardo
Aye
Smullen
Nay
Stirpe
Aye
Gandolfo
Aye
Fahy
Aye
Simon
Aye
McDonald
Aye
Bichotte Hermel
Aye
Hyndman
Aye
Epstein
Aye
Griffin
Aye
McMahon
Aye
Buttenschon
Aye
Clark
Aye
Forrest
Excused

Committee:CODES   Chair:Dinowitz      
DATE:02/15/2022AYE/NAY:16/6  Action: Favorable refer to committee Ways and Means        
Dinowitz
Aye
Morinello
Nay
Pretlow
Aye
Giglio
Nay
Cook
Aye
Montesano
Nay
Cymbrowitz
Aye
Reilly
Nay
O'Donnell
Aye
Mikulin
Nay
Lavine
Aye
Tannousis
Nay
Perry
Aye
Abinanti
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Hevesi
Aye
Seawright
Aye
Rosenthal
Aye
Walker
Aye
Vanel
Aye
Cruz
Aye
Carroll
Aye

Committee:WAYS AND MEANS   Chair:Weinstein      
DATE:03/28/2022AYE/NAY:25/8  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Weinstein
Aye
Ra
Nay
Glick
Excused
Fitzpatrick
Nay
Nolan
Aye
Hawley
Nay
Pretlow
Aye
Montesano
Nay
Perry
Excused
Blankenbush
Nay
Colton
Aye
Norris
Nay
Cook
Aye
Brabenec
Nay
Cahill
Aye
Palmesano
Nay
Aubry
Aye
Byrne
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Ashby
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Ramos
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
McDonald
Aye
Rozic
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Joyner
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Bronson
Aye
Dilan
Aye
Seawright
Aye
Hyndman
Aye
Walker
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Heastie      
DATE:03/28/2022AYE/NAY:19/8  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Excused
Barclay
Nay
Gottfried
Aye
Hawley
Nay
Nolan
Excused
Giglio
Nay
Weinstein
Aye
Blankenbush
Nay
Pretlow
Aye
Norris
Nay
Cook
Aye
Montesano
Nay
Glick
Excused
Ra
Nay
Aubry
Aye
Brabenec
Nay
Englebright
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Colton
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Perry
Excused
Paulin
Aye
Peoples-Stokes
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Lupardo
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
Dickens
Aye
Davila
Aye

A06938 Floor Votes:

A06938 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A6938B
 
SPONSOR: Epstein

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the education law, in relation to prohibiting certain
practices in the collection of student debt
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
 
To ensure students have access to transcript data necessary to complete
their degree and obtain employment, where such data is currently with-
held due to outstanding debts owed to a postsecondary institution.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Section one amends the Education Law to:
 
* Prohibit degree granting institutions and licensed private career
schools from 1) withholding a student's transcript because of a debt to
the school or institution, 2) conditioning the provision of a student's
transcript on the payment of a debt to the institution or school, or 3)
charging a higher fee or provide less favorable treatment of a tran-
script request because a student owes a debt to the institution or
school.
 
* Ensure that the state does not bear the full cost of compliance by
establishing remedies for students harmed by the withholding of a tran-
script.
 
Section two sets an effective date of 30 days after the bill becomes
law.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
Thousands of New York residents owe 'institutional debts'-debts owed by
the student directly to a college or university, often for small
balances tied to unpaid tuition, library fines, or even parking tickets.
Today, postsecondary institutions across New York, including for-profit
colleges, coding bootcamps, vocational schools, as well as public and
private nonprofit universities, are currently withholding students'
official transcripts because of outstanding institutional debts. As a
result, students are prevented from re-enrolling in school to finish
their degrees or qualify for careers in the fields for which they
trained-simply because these students cannot provide official records of
their education.
 
According to preliminary research, within the SUNY system alone, there
are 40,000 open institutional debt accounts. Other research on for-pro-
fit schools and private colleges in the state indicate that tens of
thousands additional New Yorkers are also currently being denied access
to their official transcripts. Transcript withholding forces students
into an unaffordable Catch-22: without their transcript, they cannot get
a better job. And without a better job, they cannot pay off their debt
to release their transcript.  For decades, this practice has stymied the
futures of New York residents. Each withheld transcript represents a
student who was denied the opportunity to pursue a chosen career path,
denied access to social and economic mobility through higher education,
and ultimately denied access to the American Dream.
As this state begins down the long road of helping its citizens recover
from the economic fallout of the pandemic, it has the opportunity to
change this dynamic. In fact, with this legislation, New York can
improve the future economic prospects of its citizens.
 
Importantly, this legislation does not prevent schools from collecting
on past due debts. Instead it simply removes an ineffective and counter-
productive barrier to students' ability to successfully repay that debt.
Additionally, this legislation encourages students to complete their
degrees by targeting College Access Challenge Grant funds to cover the
remaining costs of tuition. Collectively, these measures will ensure all
residents of New York have the right to a full and complete higher
education.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
New legislation.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

A06938 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         6938--B
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 14, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, STECK, BURDICK, DINOWITZ,
          CLARK, MAGNARELLI, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, GOTTFRIED, KELLES, SIMON, ZINERMAN,
          COLTON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher  Education
          --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
          and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the  Committee  on
          Higher Education in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
          tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
          mitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  prohibiting  certain
          practices in the collection of student debt
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new  article  13-C
     2  to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 13-C
     4                     STUDENT DEBT; PROHIBITED PRACTICES
     5  Section 640. Student debt; prohibited practices.
     6    §  640.  Student  debt;  prohibited practices. 1.   No degree-granting
     7  institution or licensed private career school,  as  defined  by  section
     8  five thousand one of this chapter, shall:
     9    (a) withhold a transcript because a student owes a debt to such insti-
    10  tution or school;
    11    (b)  condition the provision of a transcript on a student's payment of
    12  a debt to such institution or school; or
    13    (c) charge a higher fee or provide less favorable treatment of a tran-
    14  script request because a student owes a  debt  to  such  institution  or
    15  school, provided however, that an institution or school may charge a fee
    16  for the issuance of a transcript.
    17    2.  In  addition  to  such penalties as may otherwise be applicable by
    18  law, the superintendent of financial  services  may,  after  notice  and
    19  hearing,  enjoin  such  transcript withholding practices and require any

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08218-11-2
        A. 6938--B                          2
 
     1  institution or school found to be in violation of the provisions of this
     2  article to pay to the people of this state a penalty   of  five  hundred
     3  dollars for each violation.
     4    3. In addition to the right of action granted to the superintendent of
     5  financial  services  pursuant  to  this section, any person who has been
     6  injured by reason of any violation of this section may bring  an  action
     7  in  their  own  name  to enjoin such unlawful act or practice. The court
     8  may, in its discretion, award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevail-
     9  ing plaintiff.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    11  have become a law.

A06938 LFIN:

 
NO LFIN

A06938 Chamber Video/Transcript: