Establishes the police officer and firefighter loan forgiveness program for eligible police officers and firefighters who attend certain colleges and reside in a city with a population between 250,000 and one million.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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3840
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2013
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Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the
police officer and firefighter 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 677-b
2 to read as follows:
3 § 677-b. Police officer and firefighter loan forgiveness program. 1.
4 Certification. Police officer and firefighter loan forgiveness awards
5 shall be awarded each year. Such awards shall be allocated as provided
6 in this section to eligible police officers and eligible firefighters as
7 certified to the commissioner by the president.
8 2. Eligibility. A police officer or firefighter shall be eligible for
9 an award under this section provided that: (i) such person resides in a
10 city with a population between two hundred fifty thousand and one
11 million which has enacted a local law providing for such police officer
12 and firefighter loan forgiveness program, (ii) such police officer or
13 firefighter is employed in such city as a police officer or firefighter,
14 and (iii) such police officer or firefighter incurred student loan
15 expense while attending Buffalo state college, university of Buffalo or
16 Erie community college.
17 3. Duration. Each award shall entitle the recipient to an annual award
18 and a recipient shall be eligible for no more than a total of two thou-
19 sand dollars a year for a maximum of six years.
20 4. Calculation of award amounts. The commissioner shall be responsible
21 for calculating the dollar amount of each award that eligible candidates
22 may receive from this program.
23 5. Student loan expense. Student loan expense shall mean the cumula-
24 tive total of the annual student loans covering the cost of attendance
25 at Buffalo state college, university of Buffalo or Erie community
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07909-01-3
A. 3840 2
1 college which are outstanding when application for such program is made
2 pursuant to subdivision six of this section. Interest paid or due on
3 such student loans that an applicant has taken out for use in paying for
4 such education shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this
5 program.
6 6. Application and selection. Application shall be made to the commis-
7 sioner in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.
8 7. Award disbursement. Annual award disbursements shall be the respon-
9 sibility of the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward approved
10 applications to the president no later than ninety days after receipt of
11 such applications. Within forty-five days, the president shall verify
12 the approved applicants' eligibility and total student loan expense.
13 8. Notification. The president shall notify the commissioner of the
14 award entitlement for each approved applicant pursuant to the verifica-
15 tion performed in subdivision seven of this section.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
