Expands the eligibility period for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness; increases loan reimbursement for certain attorneys who work in legal services with indigent clients.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1568D
SPONSOR: Simon TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the New York state
district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness
program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would increase student loan forgiveness for district attor-
neys, public defenders, and indigent civil legal services attorneys..
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the
education law in regard to the eligible period.
Section 2. Amends paragraph d of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the
education law in regard to year of qualified service.
Section 4 amends paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 679-3 of the
education law. Section 5: Effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
Public defenders, district attorneys, and indigent legal service attor-
neys such as housing and • immigration attorneys, provide vital services
to their communities. However, since the inception of the District
Attorney and Indigent Legal Service Attorney Loan Forgiveness Program in
2009, law school tuition has grown dramatically, and law school debt
increased by 43% at public schools, and by 34% at private schools. As a
result, the attrition rates for these public servants are particularly
high, and debt loads drive indigent legal service attorneys and assist-
ant district attorneys to more profitable positions in government or at
private firms. As a result of the high rate of attrition, low-income New
Yorkers are deprived of experienced and talented representation.
Increasing the student loan forgiveness award from $8,000 per annum will
help alleviate debt burdens, and it will allow public interest attorneys
to continue working for their communities. Similarly, decreasing the
wait-time for attorneys to access the award from three years to two
years will help attract, talented law students to the profession. This
is crucial for many rural counties, where there are shortages of indi-
gent legal services attorneys. Further, as people of color and other
underrepresented groups have disproportionately high student debt
burdens, this debt relief will enable diverse populations to pursue
careers in indigent legal services. While the cost of this program is
minimal, it will have a profound impact on legal representation for
communities.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2020: S6668 - Reported and Committed to Finance
2021-22: A5720 Simon - referred to Higher Education S1176 - Referred to
higher education
2022-23: A1568-c Simon - referred to Higher Education Included in senate
one house
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect April 1, 2024. Nothing in this act shall be
implemented in a manner that diminishes the current award or status of
eligible attorneys currently participating in the program.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1568--D
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, EPSTEIN, DINOWITZ, MAGNARELLI, TANNOUSIS,
McDONOUGH, JACKSON, CRUZ, KELLES, BURGOS, STIRPE, WALKER, FORREST,
RAGA, SEAWRIGHT, SHIMSKY, JACOBSON, LAVINE, HEVESI, LUNSFORD, ALVAREZ,
REYES, CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher
Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said
committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommit-
ted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with
amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Higher Education in
accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
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
2 education law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the
3 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
4 b. "Eligible period" means the [six-year] eight-year period after
5 completion of the [third] second year and before the commencement of the
6 [tenth] eleventh year of employment as an eligible attorney. For
7 purposes of this section, all periods of time during which an admitted
8 attorney was employed as an eligible attorney and all periods of time
9 during which a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
10 state bar was employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense
11 agency, non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as permit-
12 ted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be
13 combined.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02878-09-4
A. 1568--D 2
1 § 2. Paragraph d of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the education
2 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
3 2009, is amended to read as follows:
4 d. "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured
5 from the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible attor-
6 ney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
7 state bar employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense
8 agency, non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as permit-
9 ted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law, adjusted
10 for any interruption in employment. Vacation or leave time provided by
11 the employer or leave taken for a condition that is a qualifying reason
12 for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C.
13 2612(a)(1) and (3) shall not be considered an interruption in qualifying
14 employment. Any period of [temporary leave from service] interruption in
15 qualifying employment taken by an eligible attorney shall not be consid-
16 ered in the calculation of qualified service. However, the period of
17 [temporary leave shall be considered an] interruption in qualifying
18 employment and the calculation of the time period of qualified service
19 shall recommence when the eligible attorney returns to [full time]
20 service.
21 § 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
22 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
23 2009, is amended to read as follows:
24 a. An eligible attorney may apply for reimbursement after the
25 completion of each year of qualified service provided however that
26 reimbursement to each eligible attorney shall not exceed [three thousand
27 four hundred] eight thousand dollars, per qualifying year, subject to
28 appropriations available therefor. The president may establish: (i) an
29 application deadline and (ii) a method of selecting recipients if in any
30 given year there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the
31 applicants. Awards shall be within the amounts appropriated for such
32 purpose and based on availability of funds.
33 § 4. Paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
34 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
35 2009, is amended to read as follows:
36 b. An eligible attorney may apply after the completion of the [fourth]
37 second year of qualified service, and annually thereafter after the
38 completion of the [fifth] third through [ninth] eleventh year of quali-
39 fied service, and may seek a student loan expense grant for only the
40 previous year of qualified service within the time periods prescribed by
41 the president. An eligible attorney may receive student loan expense
42 grants for no more than [six] eight years of qualified service within an
43 eligible period.
44 § 5. This act shall take effect April 1, 2025. Nothing in this act
45 shall be implemented in a manner that diminishes the current award or
46 status of eligible attorneys currently participating in the program.
