Expands the eligibility period for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness and increases loan reimbursement for certain attorneys who work in legal services with indigent clients.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8644
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 2, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Higher Education
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 educa-
2 tion law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws
3 of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
4 b. "Eligible period" means the [six-year] seven-year period after
5 completion of the [third] second year and before the commencement of the
6 tenth year of employment as an eligible attorney. For purposes of this
7 section, all periods of time during which an admitted attorney was
8 employed as an eligible attorney and all periods of time during which a
9 law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York state bar was
10 employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense agency, and/or
11 non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as permitted by
12 section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be combined.
13 § 2. Paragraph d of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the education
14 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
15 2009, is amended to read as follows:
16 d. "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured
17 from the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible attor-
18 ney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
19 state bar employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense
20 agency, and/or non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as
21 permitted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law,
22 adjusted for any interruption in employment. Any period of temporary
23 leave from service taken by an eligible attorney shall not be considered
24 in the calculation of qualified service. However, the period of tempo-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13472-02-9
A. 8644 2
1 rary leave shall be considered an interruption in employment and the
2 calculation of the time period of qualified service shall recommence
3 when the eligible attorney returns to full time service.
4 § 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
5 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
6 2009, is amended to read as follows:
7 a. An eligible attorney may apply for reimbursement after the
8 completion of each year of qualified service provided however that
9 reimbursement to each eligible attorney shall not exceed [three thousand
10 four hundred] five thousand five hundred dollars, per qualifying year,
11 subject to appropriations available therefor. The president may estab-
12 lish: (i) an application deadline and (ii) a method of selecting recipi-
13 ents if in any given year there are insufficient funds to cover the
14 needs of all the applicants. Awards shall be within the amounts appro-
15 priated for such purpose and based on availability of funds.
16 § 4. Paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 679-e of the education
17 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
18 2009, is amended to read as follows:
19 b. An eligible attorney may apply after the completion of the [fourth]
20 second year of qualified service, and annually thereafter after the
21 completion of the [fifth] third through ninth year of qualified service,
22 and may seek a student loan expense grant for only the previous year of
23 qualified service within the time periods prescribed by the president.
24 An eligible attorney may receive student loan expense grants for no more
25 than [six] seven years of qualified service within an eligible period.
26 § 5. This act shall take effect April 1, 2020. Nothing in this act
27 shall be implemented in a manner that diminishes the current award or
28 status of eligible attorneys currently participating in the program.
