New York S 161: Expands the eligibility period for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness and increases loan reimbursement for certain attorneys who work in legal services with indigent clients

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S00161 Summary:

BILL NOS00161A

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SAME ASSAME AS A01602-A

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SPONSORRAMOS

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COSPNSRADDABBO, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, FAHY, FELDER, FERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES,
 HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, LIU, MAY, MYRIE, RIVERA, RYAN C, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA,
 SERRANO, WEBB

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MLTSPNSR

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Amd §679-e, Ed L

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Expands the eligibility period for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness; increases loan reimbursement for certain attorneys who work in legal services with indigent clients.

Go to top S00161 Actions:

BILL NOS00161A

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01/08/2025REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION

02/03/20251ST REPORT CAL.222

02/04/20252ND REPORT CAL.

02/05/2025ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 

05/13/2025PASSED SENATE

05/13/2025DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

05/13/2025referred to higher education

01/07/2026died in assembly

01/07/2026returned to senate

01/07/2026REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION

02/02/2026AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO HIGHER EDUCATION

02/02/2026PRINT NUMBER 161A

02/10/2026REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

03/05/20261ST REPORT CAL.455

03/09/20262ND REPORT CAL.

03/10/2026ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 

05/04/2026PASSED SENATE

05/04/2026DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

05/04/2026referred to higher education

Go to topS00161 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS00161 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS00161 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 161--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 (Prefiled)

 January 8, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. RAMOS, ADDABBO, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COONEY,
 FAHY, FERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, KAVANAGH,
 LIU, MAY, MYRIE, RIVERA, C. RYAN, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, WEBB --
 read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
 the Committee on Higher Education -- recommitted to the Committee on
 Higher Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee
 discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
 to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the New York state
 district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgive-
 ness program

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the
 2 education law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the
 3 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
 4 b. "Eligible period" means the [six-year] eight-year period after
 5 completion of the [third] second year and before the commencement of the
 6 [tenth] eleventh year of employment as an eligible attorney. For
 7 purposes of this section, all periods of time during which an admitted
 8 attorney was employed as an eligible attorney and all periods of time
 9 during which a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
 10 state bar was employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense
 11 agency, or non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as
 12 permitted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law shall
 13 be combined.
 14 § 2. Paragraph d of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the education
 15 law, as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws of
 16 2009, is amended to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD00120-02-6

 S. 161--A 2

 1 d. "Year of qualified service" means the twelve month period measured
 2 from the anniversary of the attorney's employment as an eligible attor-
 3 ney, or as a law school graduate awaiting admission to the New York
 4 state bar employed by a prosecuting [or] agency, criminal defense
 5 agency, or non-profit indigent civil legal services corporation as
 6 permitted by section four hundred eighty-four of the judiciary law,
 7 adjusted for any interruption in employment. Vacation or leave time
 8 provided by the employer or leave taken for a condition that is a quali-
 9 fying reason for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993,
 10 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1) and (3) shall not be considered an interruption in
 11 qualifying employment. Any period of [temporary