BILL NUMBER: AB 1703 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Knight
FEBRUARY 1, 2010
An act to amend 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' homes.
(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'
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is repealed on January 1, 2013.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 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' home, thus
raising the maximum total loan assumption authorized under the
program for service at a state-operated veterans' home to $40,000.
(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. It would
also authorize an extension for any of these occurrences for a
period longer than one year if approved by the commission .
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).
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 calendar year, unless approved by the commission
for a longer period . 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.