Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to permit certain students to submit monthly expense and resource statement for income verification; requires Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to impute in-kind support amounts.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning income verification under State student grant and scholarship programs and supplementing chapter 71B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In the event that a student applying for a State student grant or scholarship is requested by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to verify income and assets and the income and assets of that student, or the student’s parents or guardians in the case of a dependent student, cannot be verified by documentable proof received from a federal or State agency or through income tax return transcripts or actual income tax returns, the authority shall permit the student to submit a monthly expense and resource statement to verify income and assets. If a student submitting a monthly expense and resource statement pursuant to this section records zero income and assets, the authority shall impute in-kind support, which shall assume a minimal standard of living, on the resource portion of the student’s monthly expense and resource statement.
2. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority shall promulgate regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full academic year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
Under current policy, students applying for a State grant or scholarship under the purview of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA), who are requested by HESAA to submit documentation to verify income and assets, are only permitted to submit documentable proof produced by a State or federal government agency, for the purposes of the verification. Documentable proof produced by a State or federal agency may include, but is not limited to, income tax return transcripts, actual copies of income tax returns, Internal Revenue Service Wage and Income transcripts, and proof of receipt of State or federal public benefits such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or unemployment benefits. When the income and assets of a student or a student’s parents or guardians cannot be verified through such documentable proof, the student is not considered for State grants or scholarships.
This bill would require HESAA to permit the submission of monthly expense and resource statements for those applicant students who cannot verify income and assets through documentable proof produced by a State or federal agency. The bill also requires HESAA to impute in-kind support amounts, which are to assume a minimal standard of living, on a student’s monthly expense and resource statement, if the student records zero income and assets. In-kind support includes amounts paid for certain expenses on behalf of a student, or the student and the student’s parents or guardians in the case of a dependent student, that are not considered loans.