103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3944

 

Introduced 5/3/2024, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
30 ILCS 105/5.1015 new
110 ILCS 975/6.5
225 ILCS 65/70-50  was 225 ILCS 65/20-40

    Amends the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Creates the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that all money in the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Department of Public Health to provide scholarships to nurse educators. Provides that each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement the nurse educator scholarship provisions. Makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that, for fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $6,000,000 (instead of $4,000,000) of the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Effective immediately.


LRB103 40451 RJT 72805 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3944LRB103 40451 RJT 72805 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
5Section 5.1015 as follows:
 
6    (30 ILCS 105/5.1015 new)
7    Sec. 5.1015. The Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund.
 
8    Section 10. The Nursing Education Scholarship Law is
9amended by changing Section 6.5 as follows:
 
10    (110 ILCS 975/6.5)
11    Sec. 6.5. Nurse educator scholarships.
12    (a) The Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund is created as a
13special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Nurse
14Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to
15appropriation, by the Department to provide scholarships under
16this Law. Each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State
17Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue
18Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement this
19Section. The Beginning with the fall term of the 2009-2010
20academic year, the Department shall provide scholarships to
21individuals selected from among those applicants who qualify

 

 

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1for consideration by showing the following:
2        (1) that he or she has been a resident of this State
3    for at least one year prior to application and is a citizen
4    or a lawful permanent resident of the United States;
5        (2) that he or she is enrolled in or accepted for
6    admission to a graduate degree in nursing program at an
7    approved institution; and
8        (3) that he or she agrees to meet the nurse educator
9    employment obligation.
10    (b) If in any year the number of qualified applicants
11exceeds the number of scholarships to be awarded under this
12Section, the Department shall, in consultation with the
13Illinois Nursing Workforce Center Advisory Board, consider the
14following factors in granting priority in awarding
15scholarships:
16        (1) Financial need, as shown on a standardized
17    financial needs assessment form used by an approved
18    institution, of students who will pursue their education
19    on a full-time or close to full-time basis and who already
20    have a diploma in nursing and are pursuing a higher
21    degree.
22        (2) A student's status as a registered nurse who is
23    pursuing a graduate degree in nursing to pursue employment
24    in an approved institution that educates licensed
25    practical nurses and that educates registered nurses in
26    undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.

 

 

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1        (3) A student's merit, as shown through his or her
2    grade point average, class rank, experience as a nurse,
3    including supervisory experience, experience as a nurse in
4    the United States military, and other academic and
5    extracurricular activities.
6    (c) Unless otherwise indicated, scholarships under this
7Section shall be awarded to recipients at approved
8institutions for a period of up to 3 years.
9    (d) Within 12 months after graduation from a graduate
10degree in nursing program for nurse educators, any recipient
11who accepted a scholarship under this Section shall begin
12meeting the required nurse educator employment obligation. In
13order to defer his or her continuous employment obligation, a
14recipient must request the deferment in writing from the
15Department. A recipient shall receive a deferment if he or she
16notifies the Department, within 30 days after enlisting, that
17he or she is spending up to 4 years in military service. A
18recipient shall receive a deferment if he or she notifies the
19Department, within 30 days after enrolling, that he or she is
20enrolled in an academic program leading to a graduate degree
21in nursing. The recipient must begin meeting the required
22nurse educator employment obligation no later than 6 months
23after the end of the deferment or deferments.
24    Any person who fails to fulfill the nurse educator
25employment obligation shall pay to the Department an amount
26equal to the amount of scholarship funds received per year for

 

 

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1each unfulfilled year of the nurse educator employment
2obligation, together with interest at 7% per year on the
3unpaid balance. Payment must begin within 6 months following
4the date of the occurrence initiating the repayment. All
5repayments must be completed within 6 years from the date of
6the occurrence initiating the repayment. However, this
7repayment obligation may be deferred and re-evaluated every 6
8months when the failure to fulfill the nurse educator
9employment obligation results from involuntarily leaving the
10profession due to a decrease in the number of nurses employed
11in this State or when the failure to fulfill the nurse educator
12employment obligation results from total and permanent
13disability. The repayment obligation shall be excused if the
14failure to fulfill the nurse educator employment obligation
15results from the death or adjudication as incompetent of the
16person holding the scholarship. No claim for repayment may be
17filed against the estate of such a decedent or incompetent.
18    The Department may allow a nurse educator employment
19obligation fulfillment alternative if the nurse educator
20scholarship recipient is unsuccessful in finding work as a
21nurse educator. The Department shall maintain a database of
22all available nurse educator positions in this State.
23    (e) Each person applying for a scholarship under this
24Section must be provided with a copy of this Section at the
25time of application for the benefits of this scholarship.
26    (f) Rulemaking authority to implement this Law Act is

 

 

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1conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance with all
2provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and
3all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on
4Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for
5whatever reason, is unauthorized.
6(Source: P.A. 102-699, eff. 4-19-22; 102-1030, eff. 5-27-22;
7103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)
 
8    Section 15. The Nurse Practice Act is amended by changing
9Section 70-50 as follows:
 
10    (225 ILCS 65/70-50)  (was 225 ILCS 65/20-40)
11    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
12    Sec. 70-50. Fund.
13    (a) There is hereby created within the State Treasury the
14Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund. The monies in the
15Fund may be used by and at the direction of the Department for
16the administration and enforcement of this Act, including, but
17not limited to:
18        (1) Distribution and publication of this Act and
19    rules.
20        (2) Employment of secretarial, nursing,
21    administrative, enforcement, and other staff for the
22    administration of this Act.
23    (b) Disposition of fees:
24        (1) $5 of every licensure fee shall be placed in a fund

 

 

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1    for assistance to nurses enrolled in a diversionary
2    program as approved by the Department.
3        (2) All of the fees, fines, and penalties collected
4    pursuant to this Act shall be deposited in the Nursing
5    Dedicated and Professional Fund.
6        (3) Each fiscal year, the moneys deposited in the
7    Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund shall be
8    appropriated to the Department for expenses of the
9    Department and the Board in the administration of this
10    Act. All earnings received from investment of moneys in
11    the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund shall be
12    deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund
13    and shall be used for the same purposes as fees deposited
14    in the Fund.
15        (4) For fiscal years 2010 through 2022, $2,000,000 of
16    the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and
17    Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and
18    appropriated to the Department of Public Health for
19    nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing
20    Education Scholarship Law. For fiscal year 2023 and for
21    each fiscal year thereafter, $4,000,000 of the moneys
22    deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund
23    each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the
24    Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing
25    scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education
26    Scholarship Law. For fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal

 

 

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1    year thereafter, $6,000,000 of the moneys deposited in the
2    Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be
3    set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student
4    Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded
5    pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law.
6        (5) Moneys in the Fund may be transferred to the
7    Professions Indirect Cost Fund as authorized under Section
8    2105-300 of the Department of Professional Regulation Law
9    (20 ILCS 2105/2105-300).
10    (c) Moneys set aside for nursing scholarships awarded
11pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law as provided
12in item (4) of subsection (b) of this Section may not be
13transferred under Section 8h of the State Finance Act.
14(Source: P.A. 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.