BILL NUMBER: AB 1703 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Knight
FEBRUARY 1, 2010
An act to amend Section 70123 of Sections
70123 and 70124 of, and to add Section 70123.3 to, the
Education Code, relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1703, as amended, Knight. State Nursing Assumption Program of
Loans for Education: veterans veterans'
homes.
Existing
(1) Existing law establishes the
Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the
administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs
available to students attending all segments of postsecondary
education. Existing law establishes a program within the State
Nursing Assumption Program of Loans for Education (SNAPLE),
administered by the commission, under which any person who is
enrolled in an eligible institution, and who agrees to work full time
as a registered nurse in a state-operated 24-hour facility,
including a prison, psychiatric hospital, or veterans
veterans' home, that employs registered nurses,
is eligible to receive a conditional loan assumption agreement, to be
redeemed upon becoming employed as a clinical registered nurse in a
state-operated 24-hour facility that employs registered nurses and
that has a clinical registered nurse vacancy rate of greater than
10%. The SNAPLE program provides for a progressive assumption of the
amount of a qualifying loan over 4 consecutive years of qualifying
clinical registered nursing service, up to a total loan assumption of
$20,000. Under existing law, this program becomes inoperative on
July 1, 2012, and is repealed on January 1, 2013.
This bill would expand the progressive assumption of the
amount of qualifying loans under the SNAPLE program
provide for an additional loan assumption of up to $5,000
per year for a participant that completes qualifying clinical
registered nursing service at a state-operated veterans
veterans' home , thus raising the maximum
total loan assumption authorized under the program for service at a
state-operated veterans' home to $40,000 . The bill
would provide for an additional loan assumption of up to $5,000 per
year of additional qualifying service, with a maximum loan assumption
amount equal to the participant's total outstanding liability under
the qualifying loans, for participants completing 5 or more years of
qualifying clinical registered nursing service at a state-operated
veterans home.
(2) Under the SNAPLE program, if a program participant becomes
unable to complete one of the 4 consecutive years of qualifying
clinical registered nursing service due to serious illness,
pregnancy, or other natural causes, the term of the loan assumption
agreement is extended for a period not to exceed one year.
This bill would add active military duty in the United States
Armed Forces to the list of occurrences that would authorize the
extension of the term of the loan assumption agreement.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 70123 of the Education Code is amended to read:
70123. The terms of a loan assumption granted under this article
for service in a state-operated 24-hour facility other than a
veterans' home shall be as follows, subject to the specific
terms of each agreement:
(a) After a program participant has completed one year of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to five thousand dollars
($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated loan programs.
(b) After a program participant has completed two years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(c) After a program participant has completed three years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
(d) After a program participant has completed four years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
(e) For a program participant employed as a clinical registered
nurse in a state-operated veterans home who has completed five or
more years of full-time employment, as described in subdivision (b)
of Section 70122, in a state-operated veterans home, the commission
shall assume up to an additional five thousand dollars ($5,000) of
the participant's outstanding liability under one or more of the
designated loan programs for each additional year of full-time
employment in a state-operated veterans home. The total loan
assumption for a program participant under this subdivision shall be
equal to the participant's total outstanding liability under one or
more of the designated loan programs.
SEC. 2. Section 70123.3 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
70123.3. The terms of a loan assumption granted under this
article for service in a state-operated veterans' home shall be as
follows, subject to the specific terms of each agreement:
(a) After a program participant has completed one year of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to ten thousand dollars
($10,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or
more of the designated loan programs.
(b) After a program participant has completed two years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under
one or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan
assumption of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
(c) After a program participant has completed three years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under
one or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan
assumption of up to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
(d) After a program participant has completed four years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under
one or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan
assumption of up to forty thousand dollars ($40,000).
SEC. 3. Section 70124 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
70124. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), if a program
participant fails to complete a minimum of four consecutive years of
full-time employment as required by this article, under the terms of
the agreement pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section
70120, the participant shall retain full liability for all student
loan obligations remaining after the commission's assumption of loan
liability for the last year of qualifying clinical registered nursing
service pursuant to Section 70123 or 70123.3 .
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a program participant
becomes unable to complete one of the four consecutive years of
qualifying clinical registered nursing service due to active
military duty in the United States Armed Forces, or due to
serious illness, pregnancy, or other natural causes, the term of the
loan assumption agreement shall be extended for a period not to
exceed one year. The commission shall make no further payments under
the loan assumption agreement until the applicable work requirements
as specified in Section 70122 have been satisfied.
(c) If a natural disaster prevents a program participant from
completing one of the required years of work due to the interruption
of employment at the employing state facility, the term of the loan
assumption agreement shall be extended for the period of time equal
to the period from the interruption of employment at the employing
state facility to the resumption of employment. The commission shall
make no further payments under the loan assumption agreement until
the applicable employment requirements specified in Section 70123
or 70123.3 have been satisfied.