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Student loans now carry adjustable interest rates and are virtually impossible to discharge through bankruptcy.

In 2012, North Dakota posted its ninth consecutive year of record profits with $81 million in net earnings and has posted a return of nearly 22 percent over the past decade, according to Rice. The bank is a nonprofit and therefore can offer low-interest rates to state residents.

North Dakota’s bank, the only one in the nation, was set up in 1919 because no major banks were interested in serving such a rural state.

State Rep. Kelly McCarthy carried the state bank bill last session in order to find a way to keep more of the $2 billion in short-term money that Montana invests out of state working at home.

A Montana state bank, if it ever becomes a reality, wouldn’t necessarily compete with commercial banks, but could make loans with them, he said.

Traditional bankers weren’t interested in his bill last session, McCarthy said, because they had too many questions about the concept and had plenty of money to lend already.