SF 117 (LSB 1038XS (7) 85)

SENATE FILE 117

BY  BEALL, SCHOENJAHN, SENG, HART, and TAYLOR

A BILL FOR

An Act establishing a rural Iowa chiropractic care loan repayment program and trust fund to be administered by the college student aid commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  261.7A  Rural Iowa chiropractic care loan repayment program —— fund —— appropriations.
   1.  Program established.  A rural Iowa chiropractic care loan repayment program is established to be administered by the college student aid commission for purposes of providing loan repayments for resident graduate students who agree to practice as chiropractors in service commitment areas for five years and meet the requirements of this section.
   2.  Eligibility.  An individual is eligible to apply to enter into a program agreement with the commission if the individual is enrolled full-time in and receives a recommendation from an eligible institution in a curriculum leading to a chiropractic degree.
   3.  Program agreements.  A program agreement shall be entered into by an eligible student and the commission when the eligible student begins the curriculum leading to a chiropractic degree. Under the agreement, to receive loan repayments pursuant to subsection 5, an eligible student shall agree to and shall fulfill all of the following requirements:
   a.  Receive a chiropractic degree from an eligible institution and apply for, enter, and complete a residency program approved by the commission.
   b.  Apply for and obtain a license to practice chiropractic in this state.
   c.  Complete the residency program requirement with an Iowa-based residency program.
   d.  Within nine months of graduating from the residency program and receiving a permanent license in accordance with paragraph “b”, engage in the full-time practice of chiropractic for a period of sixty consecutive months in the service commitment area specified under subsection 6, unless the loan repayment recipient receives a waiver from the commission to complete the months of practice required under the agreement in another service commitment area pursuant to subsection 6.
   4.  Priority to Iowa residents.  The commission shall give priority to eligible students who are residents of Iowa upon enrolling in the institution. 
   5.  Loan repayment amounts.
   a.  The amount of loan repayment an eligible student who enters into an agreement pursuant to subsection 3 shall receive upon fulfilling the requirements of subsection 3 shall be not more than fifty thousand dollars annually for an eligible loan. Payments under this section are limited to a four-year period and shall not exceed a total of two hundred thousand dollars.
   b.  The commission shall not enter into more than twenty program agreements annually.
   6.  Selection of service commitment area.  A loan repayment recipient shall notify the commission of the recipient’s service commitment area prior to beginning practice in the area in accordance with subsection 3, paragraph “d”. The commission may waive the requirement that the loan repayment recipient practice in the same service commitment area for all sixty months. 
   7.  Rules for additional loan repayment.  The commission shall adopt rules to provide, in addition to loan repayment provided to eligible students pursuant to this section and subject to the availability of surplus funds, loan repayment to a chiropractor who received a chiropractic degree from an eligible institution as provided in subsection 2, obtained a license to practice chiropractic in this state, completed the chiropractor’s residency program requirement with an Iowa-based residency program, and is engaged in the full-time practice of chiropractic as specified in subsection 3, paragraph “d”.
   8.  Part-time practice —— agreement amended.  A person who entered into an agreement pursuant to subsection 3 may apply to the commission to amend the agreement to allow the person to engage in less than the full-time practice specified in the agreement and under subsection 3, paragraph “d”. If the commission determines exceptional circumstances exist, the commission and the person may consent to amend the agreement under which the person shall engage in less than full-time practice of chiropractic in a service commitment area for an extended period of part-time practice determined by the commission to be proportional to the amount of full-time practice remaining under the original agreement. 
   9.  Postponement and satisfaction of service obligation. 
   a.  The obligation to engage in practice in accordance with subsection 3 shall be postponed for the following purposes:
   (1)  Active duty status in the armed forces, the armed forces military reserve, or the national guard.
   (2)  Service in volunteers in service to America.
   (3)  Service in the federal peace corps.
   (4)  A period of service commitment to the United States public health service commissioned corps.
   (5)  A period of religious missionary work conducted by an organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
   (6)  Any period of temporary medical incapacity during which the person obligated is unable, due to a medical condition, to engage in full-time practice as required under subsection 3, paragraph “d”. 
   b.  Except for a postponement under paragraph “a”, subparagraph (6), an obligation to engage in practice under an agreement entered into pursuant to subsection 3, shall not be postponed for more than two years from the time the full-time practice was to have commenced under the agreement. 
   c.  An obligation to engage in full-time practice under an agreement entered into pursuant to subsection 3 shall be considered satisfied when any of the following conditions are met:
   (1)  The terms of the agreement are completed.
   (2)  The person who entered into the agreement dies.
   (3)  The person who entered into the agreement, due to a permanent disability, is unable to practice chiropractic.
   10.  Trust fund established.  A rural Iowa chiropractic care trust fund is created in the state treasury as a separate fund under the control of the commission. The commission shall remit all repayments made pursuant to this section to the rural Iowa chiropractic care trust fund. All moneys deposited or paid into the trust fund are appropriated and made available to the commission to be used for meeting the requirements of this section. Moneys in the fund up to the total amount that an eligible student may receive for an eligible loan in accordance with this section and upon fulfilling the requirements of subsection 3, shall be considered encumbered for the duration of the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection 3. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any balance in the fund on June 30 of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state, but shall be available for purposes of this section in subsequent fiscal years.
   11.  Definitions.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Eligible institution” means an Iowa chiropractic college or university that meets the requirements for approval under section 151.4.
   b.  “Eligible loan” means the chiropractor’s total federally guaranteed Stafford loan amount under the federal family education loan program or the federal direct loan program, including principal and interest.
   c.  “Service commitment area” means a city in Iowa with a population of less than twenty-six thousand that is located more than twenty miles from a city with a population of fifty thousand or more and which provides a twenty thousand dollar contribution for deposit in the rural Iowa chiropractic care trust fund for each chiropractor in the community who is participating in the loan repayment program.
EXPLANATION
   This bill establishes a rural Iowa chiropractic care loan repayment program to be administered by the college student aid commission for purposes of providing loan repayment to resident graduate students who agree to practice as chiropractors in service commitment areas for five years, and establishes a rural Iowa chiropractic care trust fund.
   An individual is eligible to apply to the commission to enter into a program agreement with the commission if the individual is enrolled in an Iowa chiropractic college or university in a curriculum leading to a chiropractic degree.
   Under the agreement, the eligible student will receive up to $50,000 per year for a four-year period of loan repayment for an eligible loan if the eligible student receives a chiropractic degree; applies for, enters, and completes a residency program approved by the commission; applies for and obtains a license to practice chiropractic in this state; and, within nine months of receiving a license, engages in the full-time practice of chiropractic for 60 consecutive months in the service commitment area, unless the loan repayment recipient receives a waiver from the commission to complete the months of practice required under the agreement in another service commitment area.
   A service commitment area is defined to mean a city in Iowa with a population of less than 26,000 that is located more than 20 miles from a city with a population of 50,000 or more and which provides a $20,000 contribution for deposit in the fund for each chiropractor in the community who is participating in the program.
   The bill defines “eligible loan” to mean a federally guaranteed Stafford loan.
   The commission shall give priority to eligible students who are residents of Iowa upon enrolling in the institution. 
   Not more than 20 program agreements may be entered into annually.
   A person may apply to the commission to amend the agreement to allow the person to engage in less than full-time practice. If the commission determines exceptional circumstances exist, the commission and the person may consent to amend the agreement to provide for an extended period of part-time practice determined by the commission to be proportional to the amount of full-time practice remaining under the original agreement. 
   The obligation shall be considered satisfied when the terms of the agreement are completed, the person dies, or the person, due to a permanent disability, is unable to practice chiropractic. 
   The bill directs the commission to adopt rules to provide, subject to the availability of surplus funds, loan repayment to a chiropractor who did not enter into an agreement as a resident graduate student but who meets the other relevant requirements of the program.