Bill to gut states troubled loan fund headed to full Senate, then likely to governor

A bill to gut a 25-year-old state loan program that languished with default rates 10 times the national average breezed through a state Senate committee Thursday and appears headed for the governor’s desk.

If it passes the full Senate, which appears likely, HB 17-1078 will transfer what’s left in the Family Support Loan Fund to community boards that give grants to families with expenses that accommodate special-needs children and relatives.

The loan fund has “been in existence quite a while and everybody has come to the conclusion, including the department (that manages it), that maybe it is not being the best that it can be,” co-sponsor Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, told the Senate Finance Committee, which passed the measure 5-0.

The bill’s main sponsor is Rep. Lois Landgraf, R-Fountain, who saw it pass the House on Feb. 6.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/24/state-loan-program-bill/