Transfers any unspent funds from the regents health care professional opportunity scholarship program to the regents physician loan forgiveness program; provides direction to distribute these funds to meet the same purposes as originally intended.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7476
SPONSOR: Pretlow TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to funding of physician
loan forgiveness programs
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Amends Section 605 of the Education Law:
- Subdivision 9 to add a new paragraph g. to assign a priority to the
use of unspent funds from the regents health care professional opportu-
nity scholarship program by providing that such funds are to be directed
to physicians who are economically disadvantaged and/or members of an
underrepresented minority, with service payback in places where physi-
cians shortages exist;
- Subdivision 10, to amend .the opening paragraph, to provide that
unused scholarship funds from subdivision 9 are to be applied to the
regents physician loan forgiveness program.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, unspent funds from the regents' health care professional
opportunity scholarships are permitted to be applied to non-health care
regents professional scholarships. This measure would keep those funds
allocated to a health care purpose by requiring them to be applied to
the regents physician loan forgiveness program.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/03/24 A4695 referred to Higher Education
02/22/23 A4695 referred to Higher Education
2021-2022 A1799 referred to Higher Education
2019/2020 A2874 referred to higher education
2017/2018 A1572 referred to higher education
2016/2015 A2526 referred to higher education
2014-2013 A3967 referred to higher education
2012-2011 A2690 referred to higher education
2009/2010 A3721 referred to higher education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amendments to
subdivisions 9 and 10 of section 605 of the education law, made by
sections one and two of this act, shall not affect the termination of
such program and scholarship respectively pursuant to section 17 of
chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, as amended, and such program and schol-
arship shall terminate therewith.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7476
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to funding of physician
loan forgiveness programs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 605 of the education law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph g to read as follows:
3 g. Use of excess funds from the regents health care professional
4 opportunity scholarships. Any funds applied toward this program from
5 unused allocations directed toward the regents health care professional
6 opportunity scholarships, pursuant to subdivision ten of this section,
7 shall be distributed in accordance with regents rules that shall give
8 priority to physicians who are economically disadvantaged and/or members
9 of an underrepresented minority group. Awardees shall provide service
10 payback in an area designated as having a shortage of physicians, but
11 not limited to, primary care services.
12 § 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 10 of section 605 of the
13 education law, as added by chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, is amended to
14 read as follows:
15 Regents health care professional opportunity scholarships shall be
16 awarded annually to students who are beginning or engaged in an approved
17 program in medicine or dentistry and who are economically disadvantaged
18 and/or members of an underrepresented minority group, provided, however,
19 that to the extent that regents health care professional opportunity
20 scholarships are not awarded, such [scholarships shall be awarded as
21 regents professional opportunity scholarships] remaining funding shall
22 be applied to the regents physician loan forgiveness program. These
23 scholarships shall be classified and allocated in accordance with
24 regents rules.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10753-01-5
A. 7476 2
1 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amend-
2 ments to subdivisions 9 and 10 of section 605 of the education law, made
3 by sections one and two of this act, shall not affect the termination of
4 such program and scholarship respectively pursuant to section 17 of
5 chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, as amended, and such program and schol-
6 arship shall terminate therewith.
