NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4562
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to providing loan
forgiveness for mental health nurses
PURPOSE:
To provide loan forgiveness for, mental health nurses.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. adds a new section to the Education Law to provide loan
forgiveness for mental health nurses.
Section 2. provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State's mental health care system is facing a severe crisis
attracting nurses and other health care professionals into the field to
care for individuals and children at state and locally based treatment
programs. The lack of nurses is particularly acute in New York's rural
areas where state operated institutions like the St. Lawrence Psychiat-
ric Center struggle to recruit nurses to staff in-patient and outpatient
programs for both children and adults. Creating a student nursing loan
forgiveness program will help to encourage nurses and nursing students
to enter the mental health field. High student loan debt is often cited
as a reason why graduates of nursing programs seek positions in urban
areas and in fields outside of the mental health field. Creating a
student loan debt relief program for nurses that choose to work in the
mental health field can help rural areas attract the professionals they
need. Rural mental health care programs and inpatient facilities already
face difficulties in recruiting specialized health care professionals,
such as nurses, due to their remoteness, long commutes and lifestyle
differences.
Mental health nurses work with individuals and their families to develop
a comprehensive approach to medical and nursing care for psychiatric
disorders in both inpatient and community-based settings. With New
York's rural areas already facing higher rates of mortality, disability
and chronic diseases compared to urban and suburban areas, ways to
address severe staffing shortages are critical to preventing the
collapse of rural health care networks that rely on a comprehensive team
approach Creating a new student loan repayment program for mental health
nurses will help provide a powerful new recruitment tool to help encour-
age nurses to enter the mental health field.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A5220 referred to Higher Education / S2664 referred to Higher
Education
2019-20: A2892 referred to Higher Education / S1429 referred to Higher
Education
2017-18: A8211 referred to Higher Education / S5552B referred to Finance
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4562
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 16, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, STECK, LUPARDO -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing loan
forgiveness for mental health nurses
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 mental health nurse loan forgiveness incentive
4 program. 1. Purpose. The president shall grant student loan forgiveness
5 awards for the purpose of alleviating the burden of student loan debt
6 for mental health nurses in New York state. Such awards shall be made on
7 a competitive basis as promulgated by the corporation for such purposes,
8 to applicants who meet the eligibility criteria. Such rules and regu-
9 lations shall include provisions for the consideration of applicants who
10 are economically disadvantaged.
11 2. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this section,
12 applicants shall:
13 (a) have graduated and obtained a degree from an approved New York
14 state college or university;
15 (b) have an outstanding student loan debt from obtaining such degree;
16 (c) be employed as a professional or practical nurse, nurse practi-
17 tioner, or clinical nurse specialist in New York state in accordance
18 with sections six thousand nine hundred five, six thousand nine hundred
19 six, six thousand nine hundred ten and six thousand nine hundred eleven
20 of this chapter;
21 (d) apply for this program within two years of college graduation;
22 (e) comply with subdivisions three and five of section six hundred
23 sixty-one of this part;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09052-01-3
A. 4562 2
1 (f) make a commitment to practice in a tract or county defined by the
2 health resources and services administration as being "rural" or eligi-
3 ble for a rural health grant; and
4 (g) make a commitment to practice in state psychiatric hospitals,
5 hospital in-patient psychiatric units, addiction treatment centers,
6 behavioral health clinics or a county run mental health program for the
7 duration of the award.
8 3. Awards. The corporation shall grant such awards within amounts
9 appropriated for such purposes and based on the availability of funds.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
11 have become a law.
