SJR 78

The resolution requires the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization to

immediately appoint a committee, to be known as the Commission on Debt-Free

College, consisting of two members of the majority and minority parties in the

assembly; two members of the majority and minority parties in the senate; two

representatives of employers who maintain headquarters in this state, one of whom

must be a representative of small employers with 50 or fewer employees; two

representatives from public institutions of higher education located in this state; one

representative of a public two-year institution of higher education located in this

state; one representative of a technical college located in this state; and four

professional economists or higher education advocates with expertise in increasing

access to institutions of higher education and workforce development.

The commission must study the feasibility of establishing a state program to

provide debt-free college education to all Wisconsin residents. For purposes of the

study, a debt-free college education would apply to all Wisconsin residents who are

students and to all Wisconsin public institutions of higher education and programs.

The commission must also study the impact of a debt-free college education on all

institutions of higher education and programs in this state. The commission must

also investigate whether other states have established such programs, the different

methods that may be used to fund such a program, any federal legislation relating

to such a program, and all studies that propose strategies for lowering the overall

debt burden of college students.

Under the resolution, the commission must deliver its findings to the assembly

and senate majority and minority leaders and to the cochairpersons of the Joint

Committee on Finance before January 3, 2017.