Bill Text: NY S04045 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Grants student loan forgiveness for certain municipal attorneys employed by political subdivisions of the state.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S04045 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04045-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4045--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 26, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, GOUNARDES, PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to student loan assist- ance for certain attorneys employed by political subdivisions of the state The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 679-e of the education law, as amended by section 1 2 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of 2009, subparagraph (i) of para- 3 graph a of subdivision 2 as amended by section 1 of part R of chapter 57 4 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 5 § 679-e. New York state district attorney, municipal attorney and 6 indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness program. 1. Purpose. 7 The president shall grant student loan forgiveness awards for the 8 purpose of increasing the number of experienced attorneys serving in the 9 position of district attorney, a municipal attorney, or indigent legal 10 services attorney in the counties of the state. 11 2. Definitions. a. (i) "Eligible attorney" means an attorney, who is a 12 resident of and is admitted to practice law in New York state, who is 13 employed full-time as either a district attorney, as defined in subpara- 14 graph (ii) of this paragraph, [or] an indigent legal services attorney, 15 as defined in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, or a municipal 16 attorney, as defined in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph, and who is 17 admitted to practice law in this state for not more than eleven years or 18 who was within the eligible period as defined in paragraph b of this 19 subdivision during the time for which such person is seeking a student 20 loan expense grant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an eligible attorney 21 shall include those district attorney applicants who were awarded 22 program eligibility and who provided qualified service between April EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09610-03-9S. 4045--A 2 1 first, two thousand eight and March thirty-first, two thousand eleven; 2 such an eligible attorney shall remain eligible to participate in the 3 program provided they are within an eligible period measured from six 4 years from the date which such attorney was first employed as a district 5 attorney. 6 (ii) "District attorney" means the district attorney of one of the 7 counties of the state or an employee of the office of any such district 8 attorney. 9 (iii) "Indigent legal services attorney" means an attorney who is an 10 employee of (A) any agency designated by subdivisions one and two of 11 section seven hundred twenty-two of the county law, who is engaged in 12 the practice of criminal law on behalf of persons charged with a crime 13 who are financially unable to obtain counsel; (B) a not-for-profit 14 corporation that is exempt from the payment of federal income taxes 15 pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and estab- 16 lished for the purpose of providing legal services that include civil 17 legal services to persons within New York state who are financially 18 unable to obtain counsel; or (C) an agency specified in clause (A) of 19 this subparagraph and/or a corporation specified in clause (B) of this 20 subparagraph and who provides a combination of the civil and criminal 21 services specified therein. 22 (iv) "Municipal attorney" means an attorney who is employed by a poli- 23 tical subdivision of the state in an agency, bureau or unit that 24 provides social or protective services to indigent adults or children or 25 police services. 26 b. "Eligible period" means the six-year period after completion of the 27 third year and before the commencement of the tenth year of employment 28 as an eligible attorney. For purposes of this section, all periods of 29 time during which an admitted attorney was employed as an eligible 30 attorney and all periods of time during which a law school graduate 31 awaiting admission to the New York state bar was employed by a prosecut- 32 ing or criminal defense agency as permitted by section four hundred 33 eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be combined. 34 c. "Student loan expense" means the total loan balance required to be 35 paid by the eligible attorney on the cumulative total of the attorney's 36 outstanding student loans covering his or her cost of attendance at an 37 undergraduate institution and/or law school, at the time of the attor- 38 ney's first application for reimbursement. Interest paid or due on such 39 loans shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program. 40 For purposes of this calculation, the amount of the student loan 41 expenses shall be reduced by any grants, loan forgiveness, or similar 42 reductions to the attorney's indebtedness that the attorney has received 43 or shall receive, including, but not limited to, law school loan 44 forgiveness and public service scholarships. 45 d. "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured 46 from the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible attor- 47 ney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York 48 state bar employed by a prosecuting or criminal defense agency as 49 permitted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law, 50 adjusted for any interruption in employment. Any period of temporary 51 leave from service taken by an eligible attorney shall not be considered 52 in the calculation of qualified service. However, the period of tempo- 53 rary leave shall be considered an interruption in employment and the 54 calculation of the time period of qualified service shall recommence 55 when the eligible attorney returns to full time service.S. 4045--A 3 1 3. Awards. a. An eligible attorney may apply for reimbursement after 2 the completion of each year of qualified service provided however that 3 reimbursement to each eligible attorney shall not exceed three thousand 4 four hundred dollars, per qualifying year, subject to appropriations 5 available therefor. The president may establish: (i) an application 6 deadline and (ii) a method of selecting recipients if in any given year 7 there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the applicants. 8 Awards shall be within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and 9 based on availability of funds. 10 b. An eligible attorney may apply after the completion of the fourth 11 year of qualified service, and annually thereafter after the completion 12 of the fifth through ninth year of qualified service, and may seek a 13 student loan expense grant for only the previous year of qualified 14 service within the time periods prescribed by the president. An eligible 15 attorney may receive student loan expense grants for no more than six 16 years of qualified service within an eligible period. 17 4. Rules and regulations. The president shall promulgate rules and 18 regulations for the administration of this program. The president may 19 promulgate rules and regulations to delegate to the entities employing 20 the eligible attorneys the responsibility to certify the employment 21 status and the student loan balance of the applicants. 22 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 23 it shall have become a law.
