Bill Text: NY S01176 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Expands the eligibility period for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness and increases loan reimbursement for certain attorneys who work in legal services with indigent clients.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S01176 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S01176-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1176

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 7, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  RAMOS  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to  the  New  York  state
          district  attorney  and indigent legal services attorney loan forgive-
          ness program

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the educa-
     2  tion  law,  as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws
     3  of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
     4    b. "Eligible period" means  the  [six-year]  seven-year  period  after
     5  completion of the [third] second year and before the commencement of the
     6  tenth  year  of employment as an eligible attorney. For purposes of this
     7  section, all periods of time  during  which  an  admitted  attorney  was
     8  employed  as an eligible attorney and all periods of time during which a
     9  law school graduate awaiting admission to the New  York  state  bar  was
    10  employed  by  a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense agency, and/or
    11  non-profit indigent civil legal services  corporation  as  permitted  by
    12  section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be combined.
    13    §  2.  Paragraph  d of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the education
    14  law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56  of  the  laws  of
    15  2009, is amended to read as follows:
    16    d.  "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured
    17  from the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible  attor-
    18  ney,  or  as  a  law  school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
    19  state bar employed  by  a  prosecuting  [or]  agency,  criminal  defense
    20  agency,  and/or  non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as
    21  permitted by section four hundred  eighty-four  of  the  judiciary  law,
    22  adjusted  for  any  interruption  in employment. Any period of temporary
    23  leave from service taken by an eligible attorney shall not be considered
    24  in the calculation of qualified service. However, the period  of  tempo-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05051-01-1
        S. 1176                             2

     1  rary  leave  shall  be  considered an interruption in employment and the
     2  calculation of the time period of  qualified  service  shall  recommence
     3  when the eligible attorney returns to full time service.
     4    §  3.  Paragraph  a of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
     5  law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56  of  the  laws  of
     6  2009, is amended to read as follows:
     7    a.  An  eligible  attorney  may  apply  for  reimbursement  after  the
     8  completion of each year  of  qualified  service  provided  however  that
     9  reimbursement to each eligible attorney shall not exceed [three thousand
    10  four  hundred]  five thousand five hundred dollars, per qualifying year,
    11  subject to appropriations available therefor. The president  may  estab-
    12  lish: (i) an application deadline and (ii) a method of selecting recipi-
    13  ents  if  in  any  given  year there are insufficient funds to cover the
    14  needs of all the applicants.  Awards shall be within the amounts  appro-
    15  priated for such purpose and based on availability of funds.
    16    §  4.  Paragraph  b of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
    17  law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56  of  the  laws  of
    18  2009, is amended to read as follows:
    19    b. An eligible attorney may apply after the completion of the [fourth]
    20  second  year  of  qualified  service,  and annually thereafter after the
    21  completion of the [fifth] third through ninth year of qualified service,
    22  and may seek a student loan expense grant for only the previous year  of
    23  qualified  service  within the time periods prescribed by the president.
    24  An eligible attorney may receive student loan expense grants for no more
    25  than [six] seven years of qualified service within an eligible period.
    26    § 5. This act shall take effect April 1, 2022.  Nothing  in  this  act
    27  shall  be  implemented  in a manner that diminishes the current award or
    28  status of eligible attorneys currently participating in the program.