AB 1729 Passes Key Committee
Last updated 5/10/2022 at 11:52am
On May 5, Assembly member Randy Voepel (Santee) announced that his bill to address the burden of student loan debt in California has passed the Revenue and Taxation Committee. It will now be headed to the Appropriations Committee.
Assembly Bill 1729 would amend the Student Loan Repayment Plan by providing a tax-free incentive on the State Tax portion. Further, this bill would apply to those working in both the private and public sectors. This means that any money provided by an employer towards student loan repayment as part of a compensation package would not be included in the gross income of the employee.
From 2018 to 2019 over 48% of California college graduates struggled with student loan debt, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem. The Institute for College Access and Success projects that with COVID-19, economic fallouts are expected to total $555 billion over fiscal years of 2020-2022, which could negatively impact state funding and require cuts that eventually would be passed down from the colleges to students.
AB 1729 would alleviate this problem by allowing employers to pay down their employees’ education loans up to $5,250 each year without it being considered taxable income to the employee.
AB 1729 is supported by the Society for Human Resources, The California State Council of SHRM, Bay Area HR Executives Council, Central California SHRM, Central Coast HR Association, Central Valley HR Management Association, HR Association of Central California, Inland Empire Society for HR Association Management, Kern County Society for Human Resources Management, Northstate SHRM, Professionals in Human Resources Association, Sacramento Area HR Association, San Diego Society of Human Resources Management, San Joaquin Human Resources Association, Santa Barbara HR Association, SHRM of Tulare/Kings County, SHRM Northern California, Sierra Human Resources Association, and Southern California Wine Country SHRM. AB 1729 is coauthored by Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (Yucaipa).
Assemblyman Randy Voepel represents the 71st Assembly District, which includes the communities of eastern San Diego County, including Alpine, Borrego Springs, Casa de Oro - Mount Helix, El Cajon, Lakeside, Jamul, Ramona, Rancho San Diego, Santee and Spring Valley; and southern Riverside County, including Anza, Aguanga, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Lake Riverside and Mountain Center.
