Bill Text: GA HB234 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Educational loans; service cancelable; State Veterinary Education Board; change certain provisions
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-02-03 - House Second Readers [HB234 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-HB234-Introduced.html
09 LC
25 5337
House
Bill 234
By:
Representative Maddox of the
172nd
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to scholarships, loans, and grants, so as to change certain
provisions relating to a service cancelable loan fund and authorized types of
service cancelable educational loans; to provide for a State Veterinary
Education Board and its membership, powers, and duties; to provide for service
cancelable loans and scholarships to residents of Georgia who are enrolled in
school in the field of veterinary medicine; to provide for purchase of loans
made for educational purposes to students who have completed a veterinary
medical degree program; to provide effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to scholarships, loans, and grants, is amended by revising paragraph (3) of
subsection (b) of Code Section 20-3-374, relating to a service cancelable loan
fund and authorized types of service cancelable educational loans, as
follows:
"(3)
DOCTORS
OF VETERINARY
MEDICINE.
The authority is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans to
residents of Georgia who are enrolled in school in the field of doctor of
veterinary medicine, including veterinary surgery, obstetrics, dentistry, and
all other specialties of veterinary medicine. Loans may be made to students
enrolled in a veterinary college or in a veterinary division of a university or
college accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association who are
pursuing a program of study leading to the degree of doctor of veterinary
medicine or its equivalent. The authority shall from time to time, by
regulation, designate specialties within the veterinary science field that
qualify for service cancelable loans under this paragraph. In designating the
qualified specialties, the authority shall give preference to those specialties
in which there are shortages of persons trained in that specialty in the State
of Georgia. Loans made under this paragraph need not be limited to students
attending a school located in the State of Georgia. However, any and all loans
made under this paragraph shall be conditional upon the student agreeing that
the loan shall be repaid by the student either:
(A)
Practicing in the approved qualified field in a geographical area in the State
of Georgia approved by the authority. For service repayment, the loan shall be
repaid at a rate of one year of service for each academic year of study or its
equivalent for which a loan is made to the student under this paragraph;
or
(B)
In cash repayment with assessed interest thereon in accordance with the terms
and conditions of a promissory note that shall be executed by the
student.
A
geographical area for service repayment through services rendered shall not be
approved unless the area is a rural or sparsely populated area of the state or
in a community of 10,000 population or less according to the United States
decennial census of 2000 or any future such census and experiencing a shortage
of licensed veterinarians to meet the needs of owners or producers of farm
animals used for or in connection with the production of commercial food
products. If the loan is not repaid by services rendered, it must be repaid by
the student in cash with interest thereon in accordance with the terms of the
promissory note executed by the student
Reserved;
and"
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended by adding a new part as follows:
"Part
6A
20-3-518.1.
As
used in this part, the term:
(1)
'Board' means the State Veterinary Education Board created under Code Section
20-3-518.2.
(2)
'Commissioner' means the Commissioner of Agriculture.
(3)
'Department' means the Department of Agriculture.
20-3-518.2.
(a)
There shall be a State Veterinary Education Board which shall consist of:
(1)
The Commissioner of Agriculture or his or her designee;
(2)
The Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Georgia or
his or her designee;
(3)
The Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the
University of Georgia or his or her designee;
(4)
A person actively engaged in the production of livestock in this state, to be
appointed by the Governor, who shall serve for a term of four years and until
his or her successor is qualified and appointed. The term of the initial member
appointed under this paragraph shall commence on July 1, 2009; and
(5)
A person actively engaged in the private practice of veterinary medicine in this
state, whose practice includes but is not necessarily limited to food animals,
to be appointed by the State Board of Veterinary Medicine, who shall serve for a
term of four years and until his or her successor is qualified and appointed.
The term of the initial member appointed under this paragraph shall commence on
July 1, 2009.
(b)
Any vacancies on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment.
(c)
The board shall elect annually a chairperson and also a vice chairperson to
serve in the absence or inability of the chairperson. The board shall meet at
least once each year at such time and place as may be fixed by the board.
Special meetings shall be held upon the call of the chairperson. Three members
of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No
official action shall be taken by the board except upon the affirmative vote of
at least three members of the board.
(d)
For attending meetings of the board and for traveling in carrying out the
official duties, the members of the board shall receive the compensation and
allowances specified by Code Section 45-7-21.
(e)
The board shall be attached to the Department of Agriculture for administrative
purposes only, pursuant to Code Section 50-4-3.
20-3-518.3.
(a)
The board is authorized to make service cancelable educational loans or
scholarships to residents of Georgia who are enrolled in school in the field of
doctor of veterinary medicine, including veterinary surgery, obstetrics,
dentistry, and all other specialties of veterinary medicine. Loans or
scholarships may be made to students enrolled in a veterinary college or in a
veterinary division of a university or college accredited by the American
Veterinary Medical Association who are pursuing a program of study leading to
the degree of doctor of veterinary medicine or its equivalent. Loans,
scholarships, or loan purchases for veterinary medicine made under this part
need not be limited to students who are attending or who attended a school
located in the State of Georgia.
(b)
The board may provide for the purchase of loans made to students for educational
purposes who have completed a program of study in the field of doctor of
veterinary medicine or its equivalent and are authorized to practice veterinary
medicine in this state, with such purchase to be repaid by the practice of
veterinary medicine while residing in this state.
(c)
The board shall from time to time, by regulation, designate specialties within
the veterinary science field that qualify for service cancelable loans or
scholarships or loan purchases under this part. In designating the qualified
specialties, the board shall give preference to food animal specialties or other
specialties in which there are shortages of persons trained in such specialties
in this state.
20-3-518.4.
(a)
Persons whose applications are approved shall receive a loan, scholarship, or
loan purchase in an amount to be determined by the board, but not exceeding
$20,000.00 annually, to defray the tuition and other expenses of the applicant
in a college or university as provided by Code Section 20-3-518.3. The loans,
scholarships, or loan purchases shall be paid in such manner as the board shall
determine. Loans and scholarships may be prorated so as to pay to the veterinary
medicine college or school to which any applicant is admitted such funds as are
required by that college or school with the balance being paid directly to the
applicant, all of which shall be under such terms and conditions as may be
provided under rules and regulations of the board. The loans, scholarships, or
loan purchases to be granted to each applicant shall be based upon the condition
that the full amount of such loans, scholarships, or loan purchases shall be
repaid to the State of Georgia in services to be rendered by the applicant by
practicing his or her profession in a board approved rural county in Georgia of
35,000 population or less according to the United States decennial census of
2000 or any future such census. For each year of practicing his or her
profession in such board approved location, the applicant shall receive credit
for the amount of the loan, scholarship, or loan purchase received during any
one year, with the interest due on such amount.
(b)
The board shall not enter into new loan, scholarship, or loan purchase
agreements with more than five persons per year, and any such agreement may be
renewed annually not more than three times; provided, however, that the total
sum of service cancelable loan or scholarship or loan purchase payments made by
the board in any fiscal year from state appropriations shall not exceed the
amount of funds for such loan, scholarship, and loan purchase purposes specified
in annual appropriations Acts. Funds in the veterinary service cancelable loan
and scholarship and loan purchase fund account that are not expended by the
board for veterinary service cancelable loans or scholarships or loan purchases
during any fiscal year shall lapse.
20-3-518.5.
(a)
Each applicant before being granted a loan, scholarship, or loan purchase shall
enter into a contract with the board agreeing to the terms and conditions upon
which the loan, scholarship, or loan purchase is granted, which contract shall
include such terms and provisions as will carry out the full purpose and intent
of this part. The form of such contract shall be prepared and approved by the
Attorney General, and each contract shall be signed by the chairperson of the
board and by the applicant. For the purposes of this part the disabilities of
minority of all applicants granted loans, scholarships, or loan purchases
pursuant to this part are removed, and the said applicants are declared to be of
full lawful age for the purpose of entering into the contract provided for in
this Code section, and such contract so executed by an applicant is declared to
be a valid and binding contract the same as though the said applicant were of
the full age of majority. The board is vested with full and complete authority
to bring an action in its own name against any applicant for any balance due the
board on any such contract.
(b)
An applicant who has entered into a loan or scholarship contract with the board
and who:
(1)
Is dismissed for either academic or disciplinary reasons from the college or
school of veterinary medicine he or she is attending; or
(2)
Voluntarily terminates his or her training and education in that institution for
any reason prior to completion of training
shall
be immediately liable to the board for all sums advanced with interest at the
minimum rate of 12 percent per annum from the date of each payment by the board
and compounded annually to the date the loan is paid in full. The board is
authorized to increase annually said rate of interest due on loans granted to
new recipients; provided, however, that the increased rate of interest shall not
exceed by more than 2 percent the prime rate published by the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System and in effect at the time of the
increase.
(c)
An applicant who has entered into a loan, scholarship, or loan purchase contract
with the board and who breaches that contract by either failing to begin or
failing to complete his or her service obligation under such contract shall be
immediately liable to the board for three times the total uncredited amount of
all such loan, scholarship, or loan purchase payments paid to or on behalf of
the applicant, such uncredited sums to be prorated on a monthly basis respecting
the applicant's actual service and total service obligation. The board may
consent or agree to a lesser measure of damages for compelling
reasons.
(d)
The board shall have the authority to cancel the loan, scholarship, or loan
purchase contract of any applicant at any time for any cause deemed sufficient
by the board, provided that such authority shall not be arbitrarily or
unreasonably exercised. Upon such cancellation by the board, the total
uncredited amount of the loan, scholarship, or loan purchase paid to the
applicant shall at once become due and payable to the board in cash with
interest at the minimum rate of 12 percent per annum from the date of each
payment by the board and compounded annually to the date the loan is paid in
full. The board is authorized to increase annually such rate of interest,
subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (b) of this Code
section.
20-3-518.6.
It
shall be the duty of the board to make inquiry of such veterinary medicine
colleges or schools as it deems proper and make arrangements, with the
limitations as to cost as provided in this part, for the payment of tuition or
matriculation fees of enrolled students granted scholarships by the
board.
20-3-518.7.
The
funds necessary for the loans, scholarships, and loan purchases provided for by
this part and to administer the terms of this part shall come from funds made
available to the board from appropriations for such purpose.
20-3-518.8.
The
board shall adopt such rules and regulations as are reasonable and necessary to
implement this part."
SECTION
3.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval for purposes of appointment of members as
provided in Code Section 20-3-518.2 as enacted by this Act; and for all other
purposes, this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2009.
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.