# # # As Vermont students returned to campus this week, Rep. Peter Welch held a roundtable Wednesday morning to discuss college affordability and gather input about pending legislation that could revamp the nation’s financial aid system.Welch was joined at the roundtable, which was held at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, by students and higher education officials from throughout Vermont. The group focused its discussion on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221), which passed the House Education and Labor Committee this summer and which is expected to come to a vote in the House this fall.“Throughout Vermont, students and parents are struggling to afford college. While federal financial aid programs help many Vermonters pay their tuition bills, many more still cannot afford this most important investment,” Welch said. “As Congress weighs this comprehensive legislation, it is important for me to hear Vermonters’ feedback to ensure that we pass a bill that expands access and improves affordability.”H.R. 3221 is broad-ranging legislation that would increase the maximum size of Pell Grants, expand access to Perkins Loans, convert all new federal student lending to direct loans, create a new Community College Grant Program and simplify federal student loan applications.Participants in Welch’s forum included Tim Drew, a Community College of Vermont student, and Jessica Grout, a senior at Vermont Technical College. Representatives from the following organizations and institutions also took part: Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Vermont Technical College, the University of Vermont, Champlain College, Norwich University, Union Institute and University, New England Culinary Institution, College of St. Joseph, Vermont Law School, Marlboro College, Goddard College, Burlington College, St. Michael’s College, Johnson State and Southern Vermont College.Source: Welch’s office.
2SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr Over the last few years, lenders have noted an increase of individuals applying for lines of credit. The influx of credit applications has put a demand on lenders to review higher volumes of applications in a timely manner, while also performing thorough and effective checks. Since the timely payments of borrowers control a large portion of a credit union’s cash flow and their ability to run their day-to-day operations smoothly, the reliability of borrowers weighs heavily.There are basic practices you should follow to ensure your credit checks are effective in selecting reliable borrowers while remaining compliant with rules and regulations. The below points can be used as a guideline for a strong credit control system.Purpose and PermissionRunning a credit check on a borrower requires two things: reasoning and authorization. You need a legitimate reason to run a credit check on a potential borrower, which is anytime someone is applying for a line of credit. Secondly, authorization from the borrower needs to be clearly obtained and documented. Failure to have a reason for running a credit report, and/or no proof of authorization could result in legal trouble for your credit union.Running the Credit CheckTo run a credit check you need identifying details from the potential borrower such as a social security number, date of birth, legal name, address, etc. It’s important these details are double-checked to ensure you have identified the right person. Being off by a digit or two and running the wrong report could result in an unauthorized inquiry on someone else’s report. It’s recommended that a report from each of the three nationwide reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) are requested. This will give you a wider understanding of the borrower’s history and activity, which will come into use during the evaluation stage. Evaluation Stage Every credit union has their own standards when it comes to lending money. A borrower with a good perfect credit score and spotless payment history is the ideal borrower—but this isn’t always the case. Millennials and younger generations are dealing with tougher financial situations than generations before. Because of this, many lenders are willing to work with individuals who don’t have a spotless credit history but can still be reliable borrowers. For example, if a borrower is marked as a higher risk, a credit union (depending on their preference) could counteroffer with a lower credit line or stipulations. These type of in-depth credit evaluations will allow credit unions to serve more borrowers without putting undue risk on their loan portfolio. Periodic ReviewsUnreliable borrowers aren’t completely impossible to avoid, but a good management of your credit control functions can keep them to an absolute minimum. There are risk management levels that should be in place to ensure borrowers are meeting payment requirements and in good standing. Since circumstances and the financial stability of borrowers change over time, it’s essential that periodic reviews of a borrower’s creditworthiness are reviewed. Having these different levels of risk management practices will assist in flagging any potential risk from a borrower. If an individual is struggling with payments or has suddenly opened multiple lines of credit elsewhere, you now have the insight to take action and get ahead of a potential problem. Smart Record Keeping In order for your credit union to remain compliant, after the initial credit check, files for every credit report ran should be kept on file for five years. This includes borrowers that didn’t move forward with any type of credit. This is known as the “retention period.”Since all three credit bureaus randomly select places to audit, it’s vital that credit records are on file and organized. This will allow you to quickly provide an auditor with the information they request. This will also save your credit union from any potential fines or revoked licenses. Once this period has passed, you can destroy any relevant paperwork that renders it unreadable.As credit unions continue to grow and serve more members, their responsibility and potential risk grow as well. To learn more about managing risk at your credit union, download SWBC’s free ebook, Recipe for Risk Management. 
US President Donald Trump declared that catching the COVID-19 was a “blessing from God” that exposed him to experimental treatments he vowed would become free for all Americans, in a video address released on Wednesday.Trump, eager to revitalize his ailing re-election campaign two days after his release from Walter Reed military hospital, repeatedly stressed how well he felt so far in his recovery from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. It was unclear if he was still testing positive for the virus.”I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise,” Trump said, adding that his use of the medication from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc had allowed him to experience first-hand how effective it could be. Trump, who has been widely criticized for a slow response to the pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans and putting his own staff at risk by discouraging the use of masks in the White House and on the campaign trail, also cited similar medication from Eli Lilly and Co.”I want to get for you what I got. And I’m going to make it free,” Trump said, at one point calling the unapproved medicine a “cure.”The timing of the video’s recording was unclear. Trump said in the message that he had gotten back to the White House “a day ago,” suggesting he was speaking on Tuesday. But Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said the video was recorded earlier on Wednesday.The video’s release followed White House assurances that the 74-year-old president was back at the Oval Office on Wednesday, getting briefed about economic stimulus talks and Hurricane Delta. A White House official said Trump entered the office from the Rose Garden to avoid walking through the White House hallways and possibly exposing others to the coronavirus.Chief of staff Mark Meadows, who briefed Trump in personal protective gear, said the White House was keeping access to the Oval Office extremely limited.Trump had been in his residence in the White House since his dramatic made-for-video return from Walter Reed in a helicopter on Monday night.Trump, who faces Democrat Joe Biden in the November election, has had no COVID-19 symptoms for the past 24 hours, his doctor Sean Conley said in a statement.”He’s now been fever-free for more than four days, symptom-free for over 24 hours, and has not needed, nor received, any supplemental oxygen since initial hospitalization,” Conley said.Despite his illness, Trump has been looking for ways to get his election message out and cut into Biden’s lead in battleground states, advisers said. His video message appeared to be a step in that direction.A speech to senior voters is being contemplated for Thursday, they said.Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City will take center stage of the campaign on Wednesday evening.Aides say Trump is impatient to get back on the campaign trail and insistent on going ahead with the next debate on Oct. 15 in Miami, but Biden said on Tuesday he will not participate if Trump is not virus-free.The new claim on free medications came the day after Trump abruptly ended talks with Democrats on a new round of stimulus for a pandemic-pounded economy, with both sides far apart on how much money to devote to a deal.Both Biden and the top Democrat in the US Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of abandoning needy Americans.”The president turned his back on you,” Biden said in a Twitter post.With layoffs in key industries mounting by the day and threatening the fragile recovery, Trump late on Tuesday urged Congress to quickly pass $25 billion in funding for passenger airlines, $135 billion for small businesses and provide $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.But White House officials on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood of any kind of stimulus being passed before the election.Trump’s drive to get Judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court by the Republican-controlled Senate before the election also may be in doubt, since three Republican senators infected with the virus may not be able to vote.Topics :
The Census site collapsed under the pressure of millions of Aussies trying to get their details in. Picture: Adam WardTHE results of Australia’s largest ever Census of close to 10 million homes and 24 million people will be released within weeks, according to the government bureau charged with rolling it out.More from newsMould, age, not enough to stop 17 bidders fighting for this home2 hours agoBuyers ‘crazy’ not to take govt freebies, says 28-yr-old investor8 hours agoThe Australian Bureau of Statistics which oversaw the massive online collapse of the census site as millions of people logged on at the same time, has set April 11 for the first rollout of the data.“Just eight months after Census night, a preview of the 2016 results will be published on the ABS website giving insight into what makes the ‘typical’ Australian in 2016 at the national and state/territory level,” an ABS statement said.The 2016 Census of Population and Housing was conducted on August 9, amid much build-up about how two-thirds of the country were expected to complete their details online.The official release of the full 2016 Census data will be Tuesday June 27 when the comprehensive dataset can be accessed.National, state/territory and capital city data on key “person, family and dwelling characteristics, including age, sex, religion, language and income” will be released then, as well as community level Census data including how your suburb is doing now.
The official Twitter account for the NBA All-Star weekend has released the first returns for the 2018 All-Star voting.Lakers’ rookie Lonzo Ball is 8th in voting among Western Conference guards with 120, 817 votes. This season, Ball has averaged 10 points with 7.1 assists and 6.9 rebounds in 31 games.Teammate Kyle Kuzma is 9th among the Western Conference’s frontcourt players with 184,338. In 36 games, Kuzma has averaged 17.5 points with 6.4 rebounds. Lakers, Clippers schedules set for first round of NBA playoffs The 67th annual game will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018.Related Articles Trail Blazers, Grizzlies advance to NBA play-in game; Suns, Spurs see playoff dreams dashed For what it is worth, Kyle’s mother has led the charge on Twitter to get her son voted into the all-star game. Trail Blazers beat Grizzlies in play-in, earn first-round series with the Lakers Lakers practice early hoping to answer all questions How athletes protesting the national anthem has evolved over 17 years Newsroom GuidelinesNews TipsContact UsReport an Error