House File 2549 S-5140 Amend House File 2549, as amended, passed, and reprinted by 1 the House, as follows: 2 1. By striking everything after the enacting clause and 3 inserting: 4 < Section 1. NEW SECTION . 261.117 Mental health 5 professional loan repayment program. 6 1. Definitions. For purposes of this section, unless the 7 context otherwise requires: 8 a. “Commission” means the college student aid commission. 9 b. “Eligible institution” means an institution of higher 10 learning governed by the state board of regents or an 11 accredited private institution as defined in section 261.9. 12 c. “Eligible loan” means a mental health professional’s 13 total federally guaranteed Stafford loan amount under the 14 federal family education loan program or the federal direct 15 loan program, a mental health professional’s federal grad plus 16 loans, or a mental health professional’s federal Perkins loan, 17 including principal and interest. 18 d. “Eligible practice area” means a city in Iowa that is 19 within a federal mental health shortage area, as designated by 20 the health resources and services administration of the United 21 States department of health and human services. 22 e. “Mental health professional” means a nonprescribing 23 individual who meets all of the following qualifications: 24 (1) The individual holds at least a master’s degree from 25 an eligible institution in a mental health field, including 26 psychology, counseling and guidance, social work, marriage and 27 family therapy, or mental health counseling. 28 (2) The individual holds a current Iowa license if 29 practicing in a field covered by an Iowa licensure law. 30 (3) The individual has at least two years of post-degree 31 clinical experience, supervised by another individual in the 32 mental health field, in assessing mental health needs and 33 problems and in providing appropriate mental health services. 34 (4) The individual is not eligible for the rural Iowa 35 -1- HF 2549.3900 (3) 89 pf/rh 1/ 4 #1.

advanced nurse practitioner and physician assistant loan 1 repayment program established pursuant to section 261.114. 2 f. “Part-time practice” means at least seventy percent of 3 a forty-hour workweek. 4 2. Program established. A mental health professional loan 5 repayment program is established to be administered by the 6 commission for purposes of providing loan repayments for mental 7 health professionals who agree to practice in an eligible 8 practice area and meet the requirements of this section. 9 3. Program agreements. 10 a. The mental health professional and the commission shall 11 enter into a program agreement. Under the agreement, to 12 receive loan repayments pursuant to subsection 5, a mental 13 health professional shall agree to and shall engage in either 14 of the following: 15 (1) Full-time practice as a mental health professional in an 16 eligible practice area for a period of five consecutive years 17 after entering into the agreement. 18 (2) Part-time practice as a mental health professional in an 19 eligible practice area for a period of seven consecutive years 20 after entering into the agreement. 21 b. A mental health professional who entered into a program 22 agreement pursuant to paragraph “a” may apply to the commission 23 to amend the agreement to allow the mental health professional 24 to switch to part-time practice or full-time practice, as 25 applicable. The commission and the mental health professional 26 may consent to amend the agreement under which the mental 27 health professional shall engage in part-time practice in an 28 eligible practice area for an extended period of part-time 29 practice determined by the commission to be proportional to 30 the amount of full-time practice remaining under the original 31 agreement. 32 c. The commission shall give priority to mental health 33 professionals who are residents of Iowa and, if requested by 34 the adjutant general, to mental health professionals who are 35 -2- HF 2549.3900 (3) 89 pf/rh 2/ 4

members of the Iowa national guard. 1 4. Satisfaction of practice obligation. 2 a. An obligation to engage in full-time or part-time 3 practice under a program agreement entered into pursuant to 4 subsection 3 shall be considered satisfied when any of the 5 following conditions is met: 6 (1) The terms of the agreement are completed. 7 (2) The individual who entered into the agreement dies. 8 (3) The individual who entered into the agreement, due to a 9 permanent disability, is unable to practice as a mental health 10 professional. 11 b. If a mental health professional fails to fulfill the 12 obligation to engage in practice in accordance with subsection 13 3, the mental health professional shall be subject to repayment 14 to the commission of loan repayment amounts the commission paid 15 to the mental health professional pursuant to subsection 5 plus 16 interest as specified by rule. 17 5. Loan repayment amounts. The annual amount of loan 18 repayment the commission may make to a mental health 19 professional who enters into a program agreement pursuant 20 to subsection 3, if the mental health professional is in 21 compliance with obligations under the agreement, shall be 22 eight thousand dollars for an eligible loan. The total amount 23 of loan repayments from the commission to a mental health 24 professional under this subsection shall not exceed forty 25 thousand dollars. 26 6. Refinanced loans. A mental health professional who 27 receives a loan repayment pursuant to subsection 5 and who 28 refinances an eligible loan by obtaining a private educational 29 loan may continue to receive loan repayment under this section 30 if the amount of loan repayment does not exceed the lesser of 31 the amount specified in subsection 5 or the balance of the loan 32 repayment amount the mental health professional qualified to 33 receive with the eligible loan. 34 7. Mental health professional loan repayment fund. A mental 35 -3- HF 2549.3900 (3) 89 pf/rh 3/ 4

health professional loan repayment fund is created for deposit 1 of moneys appropriated to or received by the commission for use 2 under the mental health professional loan repayment program. 3 Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys deposited in the mental 4 health professional loan repayment fund shall not revert to any 5 fund of the state at the end of any fiscal year but shall remain 6 in the mental health professional loan repayment fund and be 7 continuously available for loan repayment under the program. 8 Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or 9 earnings on moneys deposited in the mental health professional 10 loan repayment fund shall be credited to the fund. 11 8. Report. The commission shall submit in a report to the 12 general assembly by January 1, annually, the number of mental 13 health professionals who received loan repayment pursuant to 14 this section, where the mental health professionals practiced, 15 the amount paid to each mental health professional, and other 16 information identified by the commission as indicators of 17 outcomes of the program. 18 9. Rules. The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to 19 chapter 17A to administer this section. > 20 2. Title page, by striking lines 2 and 3 and inserting 21 < professional loan repayment program within the college student 22 aid commission. > 23 ______________________________ CHRIS COURNOYER -4- HF 2549.3900 (3) 89 pf/rh 4/ 4 #2.