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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 937
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3910
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING A STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS
PROGRAM FOR EARLY CH ILDHOOD EDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) For the fiscal year ending 1
June 30, 2021, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Office of Higher 2
Education, in collaboration with the Office of Early Childhood, shall, 3
within available appropriations, administer an early childhood 4
educator loan reimbursement grant program to persons who meet the 5
eligibility requirements described in subsection (b) of this section. 6
(b) The program shall provide student loan reimbursement grants to 7
any person (1) who is employed by a child care center, as described in 8
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 19a-77 of the general 9
statutes, that is licensed by the Office of Early Childhood, pursuant to 10
section 19a-80 of the general statutes, (2) whose annual salary at such 11
licensed child care center is less than fifty thousand dollars per year, 12
and (3) holds (A) an associate degree with a concentration in early 13
childhood education from an institution of higher education that is 14
regionally accredited, provided such associate degree program is 15
approved by (i) the Board of Regents for Higher Education or the 16 Raised Bill No. 937
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Office of Higher Education, and (ii) the Office of Early Childhood, or 17
(B) a bachelor's degree with a concentration in early childhood 18
education from an institution of higher education that is regionally 19
accredited, provided such bachelor's degree program is approved by 20
(i) the Board of Regents for Higher Education or the Office of Higher 21
Education, and (ii) the Office of Early Childhood. For purposes of this 22
subsection, "concentration in early childhood education" has the same 23
meaning as provided in section 10-16p of the general statutes. 24
(c) Any person who satisfies the eligibility requirements prescribed 25
in subsection (b) of this section shall receive an annual grant for 26
reimbursement of federal or state educational loans (1) in an amount 27
up to ten per cent of such person's federal or state educational loans 28
but that does not exceed five thousand dollars in any year, and (2) for a 29
period not to exceed ten years. A person qualifying under subsection 30
(b) of this section shall only be reimbursed for loan payments made 31
while such person continues to satisfy such eligibility requirements. 32
(d) Persons may apply to the Office of Higher Education for grants 33
under this section at such time and in such manner as the executive 34
director of the Office of Higher Education prescribes. 35
(e) Any unexpended funds appropriated for purposes of this section 36
shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year but shall be available for 37
expenditure during the next fiscal year. 38
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
ED Joint Favorable C/R APP