BILL NUMBER: S784

SPONSOR: BRESLIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing addi-
tional loan forgiveness benefits

 
PURPOSE:

Establishes an additional twenty-four months of loan forgiveness bene-
fits under the Get on Your Feet Loan Forgiveness program for applicants
living in New York State counties experiencing net population loss to
provide an incentive to college graduates to locate in these areas

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Section 679-g of the Education Law to extend the Get on
Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program for an additional twenty-four months
for graduates residing in counties in New York State experiencing net
population loss. The extension provides an additional twenty-four months
              

(beyond the existing twenty-four months) of repayment eligibility for
applicants to the Get on Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program who reside
in New York State counties that have suffered population loss from the
2000 decennial census to the present.

Section 2 establishes an effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Section 679-g.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Formerly industrial cities nationwide face higher residential vacancy
rates and declining populations, even as other cities are seeing popu-
lation increases.(1) With its history of industrial strength, the situ-
ation in upstate New York reflects this trend. Upstate localities are
losing population, especially younger and working-age residents.(2)

Twenty-eight upstate counties have suffered population loss since the
2000 decennial census, ranging from Greene County in the Hudson Valley,
which has seen a relatively small decline of .04%, to Hamilton County in
the State's North Country, which has seen a decline of over 12% during
the same period.(3)

This bill seeks to address this problem by providing extra loan forgive-
ness benefits to college graduates who elect to reside in counties expe-
riencing net population loss. The Get on Your Feet Loan Forgiveness
Program was established in 2015 to provide loan repayment assistance to
New York college graduates.(4) Under this bill, applicants eligible for
the Get on Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program who reside in such a coun-
ty that has experienced net population loss from 2010 to the present
would be eligible for an additional twenty-four months of loan repayment
assistance - double the what is offered under the existing program. This
additional benefit is designed to provide an incentive to college gradu-
ates to stay in or move to these counties and provide extra support to
these graduates who may be earning less than they would if they had
chosen to locate in a different area.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S.2692 Referred to Higher Education

2015-16: S.7493 Referred to Higher Education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
(1) See Vey, J., The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program,
Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older
Industrial Cities (2007) at 25.
(2) McMahon, E.J. "The Graying of the Empire State." Empire Center.
8/16/2012; Ellis, K. "Panel examines New York's 'rural brain drain."
4/19/2011; Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "Upstate at a Glance."
December 2007.
(3) U.S. Bureau of the Census.
(4) Education Law Section 679-g.