AGO 1990-041.

• Court: Connecticut

Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 1990. AGO 1990-041. 1990Opinion No. 1990-041Norma Foreman Glasgow, CommissionerDepartment of Education6l Woodland StreetHartford, CT 06105Dear Commissioner Glasgow: You have requested an opinion on the following questions: 1. Does legislation which changes the terms and conditions of loan forgiveness programs apply to borrowers who signed promissory notes prior to the enactment of such legislation? 2. If the answer to the first question is in the affirmative, under what circumstances may the terms of the promissory notes be changed; and 3. Which of the changes made in the 1986 legislation would apply to pre-1986 borrowers; and 4. For those provisions which do apply, what is the effective date for applying the changed provisions. The answer to the first question is no, that is, legislation which changes the terms of loan forgiveness programs does not apply to loans executed prior to the effective date of the legislation. Having answered your first question in the negative, the remaining questions have no application and we do not address them. The loans which are the subject of this opinion are part of programs intended to encourage and to assist people to become school teachers in Connecticut. In 1983 the legislature created the Teacher Incentive Loan Program (TILP) and in 1984 the Academic Scholarship Loan Program (ELEET). The programs set out the terms of the loans, which are intended to help finance recipients' college educations, and also the conditions which allow recipients to have a portion or all of their loans forgiven if recipients teach in Connecticut schools. The loan provisions have been modified several times since the original enactments. See 1984 Conn. Pub. Acts 84-376, 1986 Conn. Pub. Acts 86-l, 1987 Conn. Pub. Acts 87-416, and 1990 Conn. Pub. Acts 90-147. The modifications make some of the loan forgiveness conditions more burdensome, add some new forgiveness options, and alter the interest determinations. It is our opinion that recipients of these loans are obligated to the terms and conditions set out in their promissory notes. Their obligations are not changed by statutory changes made after their notes were executed. A statute will not be given a retroactive construction by which it will impose liabilities not existing prior to its passage. Massa v. Nastri, 125 Conn. 144...