Bill Text: NY A04018 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides a recruitment incentive and scholarship program for certain active members of New York volunteer fire departments.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to higher education [A04018 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A04018-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4018 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 1, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI, BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the state finance law, in relation to providing a recruitment incentive and scholarship program for certain active members of New York volunteer fire departments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 669-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 669-c. New York state volunteer firefighter recruitment incentive 4 program scholarship. 1. Purpose. The New York state volunteer firefight- 5 er recruitment incentive program scholarship (NY-VFR) is hereby estab- 6 lished for the purpose of granting incentive scholarship awards to state 7 residents who are active members of a local volunteer fire department. 8 2. Eligibility. A NY-VFR scholarship award shall be made to an appli- 9 cant who: 10 (a) is a resident of the state of New York; 11 (b) is an active member of his or her local volunteer fire department; 12 (c) is matriculated in an approved program leading to an undergraduate 13 degree at a New York state public institution of higher education; and 14 (d) is enrolled: 15 (i) for full-time study, in at least twelve credits per semester and 16 completes at least thirty combined credits per year following the 17 student's start date, or its equivalent, applicable to his or her 18 program or programs of full-time study, except in limited circumstances 19 as prescribed by the corporation in regulation; or 20 (ii) for part-time study, in at least six credits per semester and 21 completes at least fifteen combined credits per year following the 22 student's start date, or its equivalent, applicable to his or her 23 program or programs of part-time study, except in limited circumstances 24 as prescribed by the corporation in regulation. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01760-01-1A. 4018 2 1 (iii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of 2 this paragraph, in the student's last semester, a full-time student may 3 take at least one course needed to meet his or her graduation require- 4 ments and enroll in and complete at least twelve credit hours or its 5 equivalent and a part-time student may take at least one course needed 6 to meet his or her graduation requirements and enroll in and complete at 7 least six credit hours or its equivalent. 8 3. Amount. (a) Within amounts appropriated therefor and based on 9 availability of funds, NY-VFR scholarship awards shall be granted begin- 10 ning with the two thousand twenty-two--two thousand twenty-three academ- 11 ic year and thereafter to applicants that the corporation has determined 12 are eligible to receive such awards. 13 (b) For full-time students, the corporation shall grant such awards in 14 an amount up to five thousand five hundred dollars or actual tuition, 15 whichever is less. For part-time students, the corporation shall grant 16 such awards in an amount up to two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars 17 or actual tuition, whichever is less. All awards are subject to the 18 provisions of paragraph (c) of this subdivision. 19 (c) (i) A student who receives educational grants and/or scholarships 20 that cover the student's full cost of attendance shall not be eligible 21 for an award under this program. 22 (ii) An award under this program shall be applied to tuition after the 23 application of payments received under the tuition assistance program 24 pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven of this subpart, tuition 25 credits pursuant to section six hundred eighty-nine-a of this article, 26 federal Pell grant pursuant to section one thousand seventy of title 27 twenty of the United States code, et. seq., and any other program that 28 covers the cost of attendance unless exclusively for non-tuition 29 expenses, and the award under this program shall be reduced in the 30 amount equal to such payments, provided that the combined benefits do 31 not exceed five thousand five hundred dollars for full-time study or two 32 thousand seven hundred fifty dollars for part-time study. 33 (d) Upon notification of an award under this program, the institution 34 shall defer the corresponding amount of tuition. Notwithstanding para- 35 graph h of subdivision two of section three hundred fifty-five and para- 36 graph (a) of subdivision seven of section six thousand two hundred six 37 of this chapter, and any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 38 the undergraduate tuition charged by the institution to recipients of an 39 award shall not exceed the tuition rate established by the institution 40 for the two thousand twenty-two--two thousand twenty-three academic year 41 provided, however, that in the two thousand twenty-seven--two thousand 42 twenty-eight academic year and every four years thereafter, the under- 43 graduate tuition charged by the institution to recipients of an award 44 shall be reset to equal the tuition rate established by the institution 45 for the forthcoming academic year, provided further that the tuition 46 credit calculated pursuant to section six hundred eighty-nine-a of this 47 article shall be applied toward the tuition rate charged for recipients 48 of an award under this program. Provided further that the state univer- 49 sity of New York and the city university of New York shall provide an 50 additional tuition credit to students receiving an award to cover the 51 remaining cost of tuition. 52 4. Duration. (a) An eligible recipient shall not receive an award for 53 more than four academic years of full-time undergraduate study or five 54 academic years if the program of study normally requires five years. An 55 eligible recipient enrolled in an eligible two year program of studyA. 4018 3 1 shall not receive an award for more than two academic years of full-time 2 academic study. 3 (b) An eligible recipient shall not receive an award for more than 4 eight academic years of part-time undergraduate study or ten academic 5 years if the program of study normally requires ten years to complete on 6 a part-time basis. An eligible recipient enrolled in an eligible two 7 year program of study shall not receive an award for more than four 8 academic years of part-time undergraduate study. 9 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 10 subdivision, such duration may be extended for an allowable interruption 11 of study including, but not limited to, death of a family member, 12 medical leave, military service, and parental leave, as established by 13 the corporation in regulation. 14 5. Application. An applicant for NY-VFR scholarship award shall: 15 (a) complete the admissions process, be accepted into and matriculate 16 in an approved program leading to an undergraduate degree at a New York 17 state public institution of higher education; 18 (b) complete the membership process and be accepted into and join his 19 or her local volunteer fire department; 20 (c) for each semester for which an award is sought, complete a NY-VFR 21 Scholarship Award Volunteer Service Commitment Form, have such form 22 signed by the chief of the volunteer fire department and submit such 23 form to the corporation. Such form shall be in a form acceptable to the 24 corporation and shall indicate the course of study the applicant is 25 pursuing and whether the applicant is a full-time or part-time student; 26 and 27 (d) execute an award conversion agreement, as described in subpara- 28 graph (ii) of paragraph (e) of subdivision six of this section. 29 6. Conditions. (a) An applicant who would be eligible for a New York 30 state tuition assistance program award pursuant to section six hundred 31 sixty-seven of this subpart and/or a federal Pell grant pursuant to 32 section one thousand seventy of title twenty of the United States code, 33 et. seq., is required to apply for each such award. 34 (b) An applicant who has earned a bachelor's degree is ineligible to 35 receive an award pursuant to this section. 36 (c) An applicant who has earned an associate's degree is ineligible to 37 receive an award for a two year program of study pursuant to this 38 section. 39 (d) Notwithstanding paragraph c of subdivision four of section six 40 hundred sixty-one of this part, a school shall certify that a recipient 41 has achieved a grade point average necessary for successful completion 42 of his or her coursework to receive payment under the award. 43 (e) (i) A recipient shall agree to reside exclusively in New York 44 state and provide a year of service to his or her local volunteer fire 45 department for a continuous number of years equal to the duration of the 46 award received. Such service will commence within six months of receipt 47 of the recipient's final award payment; provided, however, that if the 48 recipient has provided service to his or her local volunteer fire 49 department as a full-time or part-time active member during all or a 50 part of the period that he or she was receiving an award pursuant to 51 this section, such service shall be credited toward the recipient's 52 service requirement. For purposes of this subparagraph, two years of 53 part-time service shall be the equivalent of one year of full-time 54 service. 55 (ii) The service obligations described in this subdivision are 56 required of each recipient of an award, regardless of whether suchA. 4018 4 1 recipient has completed his or her degree. A recipient shall sign a 2 contract with the corporation to have his or her award, in full or in 3 part, converted to a student loan according to a schedule to be deter- 4 mined by the corporation if such student fails to fulfill his or her 5 service requirement as described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. 6 (iii) The terms and conditions of this paragraph may, as established 7 by the rules and regulations of the corporation, be deferred: (A) to 8 complete undergraduate study; or (B) to attend graduate school on at 9 least a half-time basis. 10 (iv) Any obligation to comply with the service requirement as outlined 11 in this paragraph may be cancelled upon the death of the recipient. 12 Notwithstanding any provisions of this paragraph to the contrary, the 13 corporation is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to provide 14 for the waiver or suspension of any financial obligation or service 15 requirement which would involve extreme hardship. 16 (f) A recipient shall be ineligible for additional awards if: 17 (i) such recipient who ceases to be an active member of his or her 18 local volunteer fire department, unless such cessation is temporary and 19 due to circumstances beyond his or her control as determined by the 20 corporation; 21 (ii) such recipient who fails to meet acceptable volunteer activity 22 levels as determined by his or her local volunteer fire department; 23 (iii) such recipient who quits or forfeits membership in or is termi- 24 nated or expelled from his or her volunteer fire department. 25 7. Recipient selection. The president may establish: (a) an applica- 26 tion deadline and (b) a method of selecting recipients if in any given 27 year there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the appli- 28 cants provided that priority shall be given to eligible applicants who 29 are currently in attendance at a public institution of higher education. 30 8. Rules and regulations. The corporation is authorized to promulgate 31 rules and regulations, and may promulgate emergency regulations, neces- 32 sary for the implementation of the provisions of this section including, 33 but not limited to, the criteria for distributing the awards, which may 34 include a lottery or other form of random selection. 35 9. Definitions. As used in this section: 36 (a) "Active member" shall mean a member of a volunteer fire department 37 who: 38 (i) meets his or her local volunteer fire department's membership 39 requirements; 40 (ii) has been accepted into his or her local volunteer fire depart- 41 ment; and 42 (iii) fulfills the established service requirements of his or her 43 local volunteer fire department. 44 (b) "Volunteer fire department" means a volunteer fire department, 45 volunteer fire company or volunteer fire district that is a member of 46 the Fireman's Association of the State of New York. 47 (c) "Chief of the fire department" means any person serving in the 48 highest operations or administrative capacity in a volunteer fire 49 department. 50 (e) "Part-time study" means enrollment in an approved post-secondary 51 degree program for at least six but less than twelve semester hours. 52 (f) "Resident" means a person whose principal domicile is located 53 within New York state in excess of one hundred eighty-six days per year. 54 § 2. Section 604 of the education law is amended by adding a new 55 subdivision 13 to read as follows:A. 4018 5 1 13. A New York state volunteer firefighter recruitment incentive 2 program scholarship pursuant to section six hundred sixty-nine-c of this 3 title. 4 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 91-e to 5 read as follows: 6 § 91-e. New York state volunteer firefighter recruitment incentive 7 program scholarship fund. 1. There is hereby established in the joint 8 custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and 9 finance an account in the miscellaneous special revenue fund to be known 10 as the New York state volunteer firefighter recruitment incentive 11 program scholarship fund. 12 2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received from contrib- 13 utions, donations and all other moneys appropriated, credited or trans- 14 ferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law. 15 3. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature may 16 be expended for the New York state volunteer firefighter recruitment 17 incentive program scholarship program established pursuant to section 18 six hundred sixty-nine-c of the education law. Moneys shall be paid out 19 of the fund on the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouch- 20 ers certified or approved by the commissioner of education. 21 § 4. The commissioner of education shall report on the operation and 22 subsequent effectiveness of the program created by this act, one year 23 after it shall have become a law and annually thereafter, to the gover- 24 nor, temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the 25 minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly. 26 § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
