NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8290

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Disabilities Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 30, 2025	referred to disabilities

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1974
Current Committee:: Senate Disabilities
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §2559-c, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: A8455

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to establishing an early intervention loan repayment program; provides funding is to be awarded regionally with 50% percent awarded to providers with a principal residence within NYC and the remaining fifty percent awarded to providers outside of NYC; provides that awards shall be given to providers who work in underserved areas for 3 consecutive years; provides loans shall be paid over a 3 year period

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8290

SPONSOR: RYAN C
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing an
early intervention loan repayment program

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To establish a loan repayment program for early intervention providers

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Article 25 of the public health law to add a new
section 2560 establishing a loan repayment program for Early Inter-
vention providers who agree to serve families in-person in underserved
areas for a period of three consecutive years. This section provides a
comprehensive definition for the term "underserved areas." This section
also provides that loan repayment awards shall only be used to repay the
total qualifying outstanding loan debt of the Early Intervention provid-
er. This section also establishes a distribution scheme for loan repay-

ment for the required three-years of service. In addition, this section
provides that in the event that the three-year commitment is not
fulfilled, the recipient shall be responsible for the repayment of
amounts paid. The Commissioner may postpone, Change, or waive the
service obligation and repayment amounts where there is a compelling
need or hardship. This section also provides for the appointment of a
stakeholder workgroup by the department from recommendations made by the
associations representing Early Intervention providers within three
months of bill approval to streamline the application process for the
loan repayment program.  This section further provides for the reallo-
cation and distribution of any undistributed funds.

Section 2 provides effective date as April 1, 2024.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York's. Early Intervention Program serves 70,000 developmentally
sand learning-disabled infants and toddlers, from birth to three years
old. On February 28, 2023, the State Comptroller issued an Audit Report
on the Early Intervention Program (Report 2021-S-25).  This report found
that a majority of children eligible for Early Intervention were not
able to receive the necessary services that their evaluations called
for. Additionally, over a quarter of the children who were evaluated and
determined to need Early Intervention services experienced significant
delays before the start of their services. Three thousand eligible chil-
dren never received services at all. The Report indicated that minority
communities suffered the most from the lack of services.

Growing waitlists and workforce challenges includingiineufficient
provider capacity are key reasons why services are not always provided
in a timely manner. Since 2019, over 2,5000 therapists have left the
Early Intervention Program due to insufficient rates of pay. To allevi-
ate this issue, this bill would establish a loan forgiveness program for
early intervention providers who work in-person in underserved areas for
at least three consecutive years.  Providing loan forgiveness will
attract new early intervention providers to the field and incentivize
providers to work in underserved areas.Without adequate provider capaci-
ty, thousands of underserved or wholly unserved children will enter the
public school system with unremedied disabilities and need both
preschool special education services and school age special education
services, the cost of which far exceeds the cost of Early Intervention.
To compound this issue, disabilities requiring early intervention are
almost always time sensitive, and failure to provide Early Intervention
services in a timely manner can have lasting effects on the children who
do not receive such services.

This bill is necessary to ensure that there are enough skilled providers
in the Early Intervention field to ensure that children are not left
behind due to a lack of available services.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A8455 of 2023 and 2024, referred to health

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8290
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 30, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. C. RYAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Disabilities
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation  to  establishing  an
   early intervention loan repayment program
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  section
 2559-c to read as follows:
   § 2559-C. EARLY  INTERVENTION  LOAN  REPAYMENT  PROGRAM.   1. THERE IS
 HEREBY ESTABLISHED WITHIN THE  DEPARTMENT  AN  EARLY  INTERVENTION  LOAN
 REPAYMENT PROGRAM.
   2.  (A)  WITHIN  SIXTY DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, THE
 DEPARTMENT SHALL DEVELOP A FUND AND MAKE MONIES  AVAILABLE,  SUBJECT  TO
 APPROPRIATIONS,  FOR  PURPOSES OF LOAN REPAYMENT AWARDS FOR EARLY INTER-
 VENTION PROVIDERS AS DEFINED BY THE DEPARTMENT, IN ACCORDANCE  WITH  THE
 PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SECTION.  SUCH FUNDING SHALL BE AWARDED REGIONALLY
 WITH FIFTY PERCENT OF THE FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE TO PROVIDERS WITH A PRIN-
 CIPAL RESIDENCE WITHIN THE CITY OF NEW  YORK  AND  THE  REMAINING  FIFTY
 PERCENT  MADE  AVAILABLE TO PROVIDERS WITH A PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE OUTSIDE
 THE CITY OF NEW YORK. SUCH FUNDS SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED IN A MANNER TO  BE
 DETERMINED  BY THE COMMISSIONER WITHOUT A COMPETITIVE BID OR REQUEST FOR
 PROPOSALS.
   (B) LOAN REPAYMENT AWARDS UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL BE AWARDED TO REPAY
 STUDENT LOANS FOR EARLY INTERVENTION PROVIDERS WHO WORK IN AREAS  DETER-
 MINED  TO  BE UNDERSERVED AND WHO AGREE TO SERVE FAMILIES, IN-PERSON, IN
 UNDERSERVED AREAS FOR A PERIOD OF THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS.  "UNDERSERVED
 AREAS" SHALL BE LOCATED IN NEW YORK STATE AND SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT  BE
 LIMITED  TO  MEDICALLY  UNDERSERVED  POPULATIONS,  MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED
 AREAS, HEALTH CARE PROVIDER SHORTAGE AREAS, AND OTHER  AREAS  AND  POPU-
 LATIONS  WHERE  THERE  IS  A SHORTAGE OF EARLY INTERVENTION PROVIDERS AS
 DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05177-01-5

 S. 8290                             2
 
   (C) LOAN REPAYMENT AWARDS MADE UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL NOT EXCEED THE
 TOTAL QUALIFYING OUTSTANDING STUDENT  LOAN  DEBT  AMOUNT  OF  THE  EARLY
 INTERVENTION PROVIDER. QUALIFYING STUDENT LOANS UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL
 INCLUDE  LOANS FOR TUITION AND OTHER RELATED EDUCATION EXPENSES, MADE BY
 OR  GUARANTEED  BY THE FEDERAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT, OR MADE BY A LENDING
 OR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION APPROVED UNDER TITLE IV OF THE FEDERAL HIGHER
 EDUCATION ACT. LOAN REPAYMENT AWARDS SHALL ONLY BE USED  TO  REPAY  SUCH
 OUTSTANDING DEBT.
   (D)  EARLY INTERVENTION PROVIDERS SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR LOAN REPAYMENT
 AWARDS TO BE DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSIONER, OVER  A  THREE-YEAR  PERIOD
 AND  DISTRIBUTED  AS  FOLLOWS: THIRTY PERCENT OF THE TOTAL AWARD FOR THE
 FIRST YEAR, THIRTY PERCENT FOR THE SECOND YEAR, AND ANY  UNPAID  BALANCE
 OF THE TOTAL AWARDS NOT TO EXCEED THE MAXIMUM AWARD AMOUNT FOR THE THIRD
 YEAR.
   (E)  IN  THE  EVENT THE THREE-YEAR COMMITMENT AS PROVIDED BY PARAGRAPH
 (B) OF THIS SUBDIVISION IS NOT FULFILLED, THE RECIPIENT SHALL BE RESPON-
 SIBLE FOR REPAYMENT OF AMOUNTS PAID BY THE DEPARTMENT,  WHICH  SHALL  BE
 CALCULATED  IN ACCORDANCE WITH A FORMULA SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION (B) OF
 SECTION TWO-HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR-O OF TITLE FORTY-TWO OF THE UNITED STATES
 CODE, AS AMENDED, OR ANY REGULATIONS MADE THEREUNDER.
   3. THE COMMISSIONER MAY POSTPONE, CHANGE OR WAIVE  THE  SERVICE  OBLI-
 GATION  AND  REPAYMENT  AMOUNTS  SET  FORTH IN PARAGRAPHS (B) AND (E) OF
 SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION IN INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE  THERE
 IS COMPELLING NEED OR HARDSHIP.
   4.  WITHIN  NINETY  DAYS FOLLOWING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION,
 THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ESTABLISH A WORKING  GROUP  CONSISTING  OF  MEMBERS
 APPOINTED  FROM  PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS  REPRESENTING  EARLY INTER-
 VENTION PROVIDERS ("THE WORKING GROUP"). THE  WORKING  GROUP,  NO  LATER
 THAN SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN SHALL MAKE RECOMMEN-
 DATIONS,  TO  THE DEPARTMENT, ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A
 STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THE EARLY INTERVENTION  LOAN  REPAY-
 MENT PROGRAM SET FORTH UNDER THIS SECTION.
   5.  IN THE EVENT THERE ARE UNDISTRIBUTED FUNDS AVAILABLE FOLLOWING THE
 THREE-YEAR DISTRIBUTION PERIOD AS PROVIDED UNDER SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS
 SECTION, SUCH FUNDS SHALL BE REALLOCATED AND DISTRIBUTED IN  CURRENT  OR
 SUBSEQUENT  DISTRIBUTION  PERIODS  IN A MANNER DETERMINED BY THE COMMIS-
 SIONER FOR THE PURPOSE SET FORTH UNDER THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect April 1, 2026.

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Senate Bill S8290

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Disabilities Committee

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S8290

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Sponsored By

Christopher J. Ryan

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Disabilities Committee

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments