Bill Text: NY S01200 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to creating the New York state rural doctors and nurses loan forgiveness program to attract doctors and nurses to be employed in rural areas throughout New York state on a full-time basis.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S01200 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S01200-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1200
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 11, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. RITCHIE -- 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 creating the New  York
          state rural doctors and nurses loan forgiveness program
          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  679-k
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  679-k.  New  York  state  rural doctors and nurses loan forgiveness
     4  program. 1. Purpose.  The president shall grant student loan forgiveness
     5  awards for the purpose of attracting doctors and nurses to  be  employed
     6  in rural areas throughout New York state on a full-time basis.
     7    2.  Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this section,
     8  applicants shall:
     9    (a) have graduated and obtained a degree from  an  approved  New  York
    10  state college or university;
    11    (b) be employed as a doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, profes-
    12  sional  or  practical  nurse,  nurse  practitioner,  or  clinical  nurse
    13  specialist in New York state  in  accordance  with  sections  sixty-five
    14  hundred  twenty-four,  sixty-nine  hundred five, sixty-nine hundred six,
    15  sixty-nine hundred ten and sixty-nine hundred eleven of this chapter;
    16    (c) comply with subdivisions three and five  of  section  six  hundred
    17  sixty-one of this part; and
    18    (d)  make a commitment to practice in a rural area for the duration of
    19  the award.
    20    3. Definitions. For the purposes of this  section,  the  term  "rural"
    21  shall  mean  a  tract  or  county  defined  by  the health resources and
    22  services administration as being rural or eligible for  a  rural  health
    23  grant.
    24    4.  Priority.  Such awards shall be made annually to applicants in the
    25  following priority:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04976-01-9
        S. 1200                             2
     1    (a) First priority shall be given  to  applicants  who  have  received
     2  payment of an award pursuant to this section in a prior year and who, in
     3  the  year  prior  to application, are doctors or nurses in a rural area;
     4  and
     5    (b) Second priority shall be given to applicants who have not received
     6  payment of an award pursuant to this section in a prior year and who are
     7  doctors or nurses in a rural area in the year prior to such application.
     8    5.  Awards.  The corporation shall grant awards pursuant to the amount
     9  appropriated for such purpose and based on availability of funds  in  an
    10  amount up to five thousand dollars to individuals who are employed full-
    11  time  as  doctors  or  nurses  for  the  year prior to such application,
    12  provided that no recipient shall receive an award that exceeds the total
    13  remaining balance of the student loan debt pursuant to this section,  in
    14  excess of twenty thousand dollars.
    15    6.  Rules and regulations. The corporation is authorized to promulgate
    16  rules and regulations and may promulgate emergency regulations necessary
    17  for the implementation of the provisions of this section.  In the  event
    18  that  there  are more applicants who have the same priority, as provided
    19  in subdivision four of this section, than there  are  remaining  awards,
    20  the  corporation  shall provide in regulation the method of distributing
    21  the remaining number of such awards, which  may  include  a  lottery  or
    22  other form of random selection.
    23    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    24  have become a law.