New York S 4964: Provides for student loan assistance for certain attorneys employed by political subdivisions of the state

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4964
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, GOUNARDES, KRUEGER, MYRIE, PERSAUD, RAMOS
-- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to student loan assist-
ance for certain attorneys employed by political subdivisions of the
state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 679-e of the education law, as amended by section 1
2 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of 2009, subparagraph (i) of para-
3 graph a of subdivision 2 as amended by section 1 of part R of chapter 57
4 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 679-e. New York state district attorney and, municipal attorney
6 indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness program. 1. Purpose.
7 The president shall grant student loan forgiveness awards for the
8 purpose of increasing the number of experienced attorneys serving in the
9 position of district attorney or indigent legal, a municipal attorney,
10 services attorney in the counties of the state.
11 2. Definitions. a. (i) "Eligible attorney" means an attorney, who is a
12 resident of and is admitted to practice law in New York state, who is
13 employed full-time as either a district attorney, as defined in subpara-
14 graph (ii) of this paragraph, [ ] an indigent legal services attorney,or
15 as defined in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, or a municipal
16 who isattorney, as defined in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph, and
17 admitted to practice law in this state for not more than eleven years or
18 who was within the eligible period as defined in paragraph b of this
19 subdivision during the time for which such person is seeking a student
20 loan expense grant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an eligible attorney
21 shall include those district attorney applicants who were awarded
22 program eligibility and who provided qualified service between April
23 first, two thousand eight and March thirty-first, two thousand eleven;
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07347-01-3

S. 4964 2
1 such an eligible attorney shall remain eligible to participate in the
2 program provided they are within an eligible period measured from six
3 years from the date which such attorney was first employed as a district
4 attorney.
5 (ii) "District attorney" means the district attorney of one of the
6 counties of the state or an employee of the office of any such district
7 attorney.
8 (iii) "Indigent legal services attorney" means an attorney who is an
9 employee of (A) any agency designated by subdivisions one and two of
10 section seven hundred twenty-two of the county law, who is engaged in
11 the practice of criminal law on behalf of persons charged with a crime
12 who are financially unable to obtain counsel; (B) a not-for-profit
13 corporation that is exempt from the payment of federal income taxes
14 pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and estab-
15 lished for the purpose of providing legal services that include civil
16 legal services to persons within New York state who are financially
17 unable to obtain counsel; or (C) an agency specified in clause (A) of
18 this subparagraph and/or a corporation specified in clause (B) of this
19 subparagraph and who provides a combination of the civil and criminal
20 services specified therein.
21 (iv) "Municipal attorney" means an attorney who is employed by a poli-
22 tical subdivision of the state in an agency, bureau or unit that
23 provides social or protective services to indigent adults or children or
24 police services.
25 b. "Eligible period" means the six-year period after completion of the
26 third year and before the commencement of the tenth year of employment
27 as an eligible attorney. For purposes of this section, all periods of
28 time during which an admitted attorney was employed as an eligible
29 attorney and all periods of time during which a law school graduate
30 awaiting admission to the New York state bar was employed by a prosecut-
31 ing or criminal defense agency as permitted by section four hundred
32 eighty-four of the judiciary law shall be combined.
33 c. "Student loan expense" means the total loan balance required to be
34 paid by the eligible attorney on the cumulative total of the attorney's
35 outstanding student loans covering his or her cost of attendance at an
36 undergraduate institution and/or law school, at the time of the attor-
37 ney's first application for reimbursement. Interest paid or due on such
38 loans shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program.
39 For purposes of this calculation, the amount of the student loan
40 expenses shall be reduced by any grants, loan forg