MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Universities and Colleges; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Parks, Michel, DeBar, Williams, Polk, Frazier, Butler (36th), Hopson, Parker, Jackson (11th), Hickman
AN ACT TO CREATE THE HOSPITAL NURSES AND RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RETENTION LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE AWARDS TO CERTAIN NURSES AND RESPIRATORY THERAPIST WHO APPLY, SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS; TO SET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF PERSONS FROM ELIGIBILITY; TO REQUIRE THAT RECIPIENTS MAINTAIN CURRENT EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION AT ALL TIMES WITH THE STATE FINANCIAL AID BOARD; TO PROVIDE THAT AMOUNTS AWARDED BE PAID TO THE RECIPIENT'S LENDER OR LOAN SERVICE PROVIDER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) There is established the "Hospital Nurses and Respiratory Therapist Retention Loan Repayment Program" for new nursing and respiratory therapist graduates to be administered by the State Financial Aid Board.
(2) Subject to the availability of funds, an eligible applicant for an initial award must have:
(a) Legal residency in the State of Mississippi;
(b) Gained employment within the last year for the first time as a licensed practical nurse, licensed registered nurse or respiratory therapist at a general acute care hospital in the State of Mississippi that is licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health;
(c) A current relevant Mississippi professional license; and
(d) Outstanding qualifying educational loans, received while pursuing a nursing or relevant respiratory therapist degree, which may include the principal, interest, and related expenses such as the required interest premium on the unpaid balances of government and commercial loans obtained by the recipient for educational expense.
(3) Persons who have received funds from state forgivable loan programs established under Mississippi law, or who are in default or delinquent on any federal, state, local or commercial qualifying educational loan, are not eligible for this program.
(4) Recipients in the initial year of the program will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis from all eligible applicants. In the second and subsequent years of an applicant's continued eligibility, priority shall be given to renewal applicants. In any given year no more than one hundred fifty (150) new registered nurse applicants, fifty (50) new licensed practical nurse applicants and twenty-five (25) new respiratory therapist applicants may receive funds under the program.
(5) Recipients in the program will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis from all eligible applicants. In the first year and subsequent years, no more than one hundred fifty (150) new registered nurse applicants, fifty (50) new licensed practical nurse applicants and twenty-five (25) new respiratory therapist applicants may receive funds. In addition to the number of new applicants each year, the State Financial Aid Board shall renew eligible applicants approved in prior years only if the renewal applicant continues to meet the standards set forth in this act and the renewal applicant has not received full funding provided by this subsection (5).
(6) Awards for recipients who are employed at a licensed general acute care hospital in the state may be a maximum of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) for each year of employment up to three (3) years.
(7) A recipient shall not be penalized for ending employment at a licensed general acute care hospital in the State of Mississippi if the recipient begins working for another licensed general acute care hospital in the State of Mississippi during the year on which the award is based.
(8) Awards will be granted on a year-to-year basis, and recipients have no obligation to seek a subsequent award.
(9) Awards shall be paid annually, after the expiration of the year of employment for which the award was granted, to the recipient's lender or loan service provider, to be applied to the outstanding balance. Monies paid by the recipient or on the recipient's behalf toward qualifying educational loans before payment of the award are not eligible for reimbursement through the program.
(10) During the employment year for which the award is granted, a recipient must at all times keep the State Financial Aid Board informed of any changes to the recipient's current, correct, and complete employment information and status.
(11) Recipients who fail to maintain a relevant Mississippi professional license or fail to fulfill the year of employment on which the award was based forfeit any right to the award.
(12) The State Financial Aid Board, in collaboration with the Licensing Board of the nurse or other health care professional eligible to receive funds under this program, must track award recipients under this program through their third employment year, unless the recipient leaves employment at a licensed general acute care hospital in the state at an earlier date. Data collected must include each recipients' place of employment and any other pertinent information necessary to determine the efficacy of the program in retaining nurses and respiratory therapists in licensed general acute care hospitals in the State of Mississippi. The board must submit a report of the information collected under this subsection (12) to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by October 1 of each year, and include information concerning the number of submitted applications and the amount of grant funds awarded to each applicant.
(13) The State Financial Aid Board must promulgate regulations necessary for the proper administration of this section, including setting a fiscal year policy for the program and application dates and deadlines.
(14) There is established in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated the "Hospital Nursing and Respiratory Therapist Loan Repayment Program Fund," into which shall be deposited those funds appropriated by the Legislature, and any other funds that may be made available, for the purpose of implementing the loan repayment program established herein. Money in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not lapse into the General Fund, and interest earned on any amounts deposited into the fund shall be credited to the special fund.
(15) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 2. Section 37-106-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, which establishes a forgivable loan program for baccalaureate and graduate studies in nursing, is repealed from and after July 1, 2022.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.