SENATE BILL 151
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021
INTRODUCED BY
David M. Gallegos
AN ACT
RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; ENACTING THE INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDER LOAN REPAYMENT ACT; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; CREATING A FUND.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act is to increase the number of instructional support providers in public schools through an educational loan repayment program. The act provides for repayment of the principal and reasonable interest accrued on loans obtained from the federal government for instructional support providers' educational purposes."
SECTION 3. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act:
A. "department" means the higher education department;
B. "instructional support provider" means a person who is employed to support the instructional program of a school district or charter school, including an educational assistant, school counselor, educational diagnostician, social worker, school nurse, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, marriage and family therapist and interpreter for the deaf; and
C. "loan" means a grant of money to defray the costs incidental to an instructional support provider's education, under a contract between the federal government and the student, requiring repayment of principal and interest."
SECTION 4. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEPARTMENT POWERS AND DUTIES-- INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDER ELIGIBILITY--QUALIFICATIONS.--
A. The department may grant a loan repayment award to repay loans obtained by an instructional support provider for educational expenses of the instructional support provider upon such terms and conditions as may be imposed by rules of the department.
B. Applicants shall be licensed New Mexico instructional support providers who are bona fide citizens and residents of the United States and of New Mexico and have worked at least three years in New Mexico. High priority shall be given to applicants who are working in designated high-need instructional support provider positions in the state.
C. The department and the public education department shall jointly make a full and careful investigation of the ability and qualifications of each applicant and determine the fitness of an instructional support provider to participate in the loan repayment program."
SECTION 5. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] LOAN REPAYMENT AWARD CRITERIA--CONTRACT TERMS--PAYMENT.--
A. Loan repayment award criteria shall provide that:
(1) for high-priority applicants, award amounts shall be dependent upon a specific public school's need for the designated high-need instructional support provider position, as determined by the public education department, the instructional support provider's total pertinent education indebtedness and available balances in the instructional support provider loan repayment fund;
(2) award amounts for other instructional support providers shall be based on the need for an instructional support provider position that can be filled by the applicant, as determined by the public education department, the instructional support provider's total pertinent education indebtedness and available balances in the instructional support provider loan repayment fund;
(3) preference in making awards shall be to instructional support providers who have graduated from a New Mexico public post-secondary educational institution;
(4) award amounts shall not exceed six thousand dollars ($6,000) per year and may be modified based upon funding availability or other special circumstances; and
(5) the total amount of awards made to any one instructional support provider shall not exceed the total pertinent education indebtedness remaining for that instructional support provider.
B. The following education debts are not eligible for repayment pursuant to the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act:
(1) amounts incurred as a result of participation in state loan-for-service programs or other state programs that require that service be provided in exchange for financial assistance;
(2) scholarships that have a service component or obligation;
(3) loans from a commercial lender;
(4) personal loans from friends or relatives; and
(5) loans that exceed individual standard school expense levels.
C. Every loan repayment award shall be evidenced by a contract between the instructional support provider and the department acting on behalf of the state. The contract shall provide for the payment by the state of a stated sum each year to the instructional support provider's federal government lender not to exceed six thousand dollars ($6,000) per year and shall state the obligations of the instructional support provider under the program, including a minimum two-school-year period of service for holders of undergraduate degrees or a minimum four-school-year period of service for holders of graduate degrees, quarterly reporting requirements and other obligations established by the department. Execution of contracts shall occur prior to the start of a school year, and the required period of service starts at the execution of the contract.
D. The department shall make annual payments pursuant to contracts only after satisfactory completion of a full school year of providing instructional support as certified by the public education department. The contract of any instructional support provider who does not complete a full year of instructional support shall be voided, and the instructional support provider shall forfeit any right to that year's payment pursuant to the contract.
E. Each contract shall be for an initial two- or four-school-year period and may be extended for three additional two-year contracts. The department shall not enter into any contracts with a single instructional support provider for more than eight years of repayment.
F. Loan repayment awards shall be in the form of payments from the instructional support provider loan repayment fund directly to the federal government lender of an instructional support provider who has received the award and shall be considered a payment on behalf of the instructional support provider pursuant to the contract between the department and the instructional support provider. A loan repayment award shall not obligate the state or the department to the instructional support provider's federal government lender for any other payment and shall not be considered to create any privity of contract between the state or the department and the lender.
G. The department, after consulting with the public education department, shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act. The rules shall provide:
(1) a procedure for determining the amount of a loan that will be repaid for each year of service; and
(2) for the disbursement of loan repayment awards to an instructional support provider's federal government lender in annual installments after completion of each qualifying full year of teaching."
SECTION 6. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] CONTRACTS--ENFORCEMENT.--The general form of a contract required pursuant to the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act shall be prepared and approved by the attorney general, and each contract shall be signed by the instructional support provider and the designated representative of the department on behalf of the state. The department is vested with full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name for any balance due the state from an instructional support provider under any such contract."
SECTION 7. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDER LOAN REPAYMENT FUND CREATED--METHOD OF PAYMENT.--The "instructional support provider loan repayment fund" is created in the state treasury. All money appropriated for the instructional support provider loan repayment program shall be credited to the fund, and any repayment of awards and interest received by the department shall be credited to the fund. Income from the fund shall be credited to the fund, and balances in the fund shall not revert to any other fund. Money in the fund shall be expended only as provided by legislative appropriation for making loan repayment awards pursuant to the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act. All payments for loan repayment awards shall be made upon vouchers signed by the designated representative of the department and upon a warrant issued by the secretary of finance and administration."
SECTION 8. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] CANCELLATION.--The department may cancel any contract made between it and an instructional support provider pursuant to the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act for any reasonable cause deemed sufficient by the department."
SECTION 9. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS.--Prior to each regular session of the legislature, the department shall make annual reports to the governor and the legislature of the department's activities pertaining to the Instructional Support Provider Loan Repayment Act; the loan repayment awards granted; the names and addresses of instructional support providers who received loan repayment awards; the names and locations of the positions filled by those instructional support providers; the name of each instructional support provider who received a loan repayment award who is not serving in a designated high-need instructional support provider position, the amount owed on the loan of each of those instructional support providers and the amount paid on each of those loans by loan repayment awards; and the number of instructional support providers whose contracts were voided because they did not complete a full year of providing instructional support."
SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2021.
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