O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 23-70—sHB 5441
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING CL INICAL PLACEMENTS FO R NURSING
STUDENTS, REPORTING BY THE OFFICE OF WORKFORCE
STRATEGY, PROMOTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT O F THE
INSURANCE INDUSTRY A ND CONNECTICUT HIGHE R EDUCATION
SUPPLEMENTAL LOAN AU THORITY STUDENT LOAN SUBSIDY
PROGRAMS FOR VARIOUS PROFESSIONS
SUMMARY: This act makes the following changes to higher education statutes
and programs:
1. creates an 11-member task force to develop a plan for establishing clinical
placements at state facilities for nursing students (§ 1);
2. makes permanent the requirement for the Chief Workforce Officer to
annually report to the governor and certain legislative committees on the
Office of Workforce Strategy’s (OWS) workforce training programs (§ 2);
3. requires the insurance commissioner to promote the development and
growth of, and employment opportunities within, the state’s insurance
industry (§ 3);
4. makes paraeducators and school counselors eligible for the Connecticut
Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority’s (CHESLA) Alliance
District Teacher Loan Subsidy Program (§§ 4 & 5);
5. requires CHESLA to establish a Police Officer Loan Subsidy Program to
subsidize interest rates on CHESLA loans to eligible police officers
employed in distressed municipalities (§ 6); and
6. expands the CHESLA loan subsidy program for certain health care
professionals created by PA 23-60 to also include emergency medical
service (EMS) professionals (§§ 7 & 8).
The act also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2023, except the provisions expanding Alliance
District teacher loan subsidy program eligibility and establishing the police officer
student loan subsidy program take effect on January 1, 2024, and the task force
provision is effective upon passage.
§ 1 — NURSING STUDENT CLINICAL PLACEMENT TASK FORCE
Duties
The act creates a task force to develop a plan for establishing clinical
placements for nursing students at public and private higher education institutions.
In developing the plan, the task force must examine the following:
1. the types of state facilities that can accommodate these clinical placements, O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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including state correctional facilities and facilities operated by the
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the
Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the Department of
Developmental Services (DDS);
2. the number and types of placements that may be established at each facility;
3. the staffing requirements for providing the placements and the facilities’
compliance with them; and
4. the total and per-student cost to the facilities to provide the placements.
Membership
Under the act, the task force consists of 11 appointed members, with the
commissioners of corrections, public health, DMHAS, DCF, and DDS, and the six
legislative leaders appointing one member each. The corrections commissioner’s
appointment must be a licensed medical provider the corrections department
employs, and the other commissioner appointments must be registered nurses
employed by each respective agency. The legislative leaders must each appoint a
nursing program administrator from specified institutions as follows: House
speaker (UConn), Senate president pro tempore (independent higher education
institution), House majority leader (state university within the Connecticut State
University System), Senate majority leader (regional community-technical
college), House minority leader (independent higher education institution), and
Senate minority leader (UConn Health Center).
The appointing authorities must make their initial appointments within 30 days
after the act’s passage (July 5, 2023) and fill any vacancies. Members appointed by
the legislative leaders may be legislators.
Leadership, Staff, and Meetings
Under the act, the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore must select
the task force chairpersons from among its members. The chairpersons must
schedule the task force’s first meeting to be held within 60 days after the act’s
passage (August 4, 2023).
The act requires the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee’s administrative staff to serve in this capacity for the task force.
Report
The act requires the task force to report its findings and recommendations to
the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee by January 1,
2024. The task force terminates on this date or when it submits the report,
whichever is later.
§ 2 — OWS REPORTING REQUIREME NTS
The act makes permanent the requirement for the chief workforce officer to O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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annually report on OWS workforce training programs to the governor and the
Commerce; Education; Finance, Revenue and Bonding; Higher Education and
Employment Advancement; and Labor and Public Employees committees. Prior
law sunset the reporting requirement on October 1, 2025. By law, this report must
include information on the number, demographics, and outcomes of program
participants.
§§ 4 & 5 — ALLIANCE DISTRICT EDUCATOR AND COUNS ELOR LOAN
SUBSIDY PROGRAM
The act broadens eligibility under the Alliance District Teacher Loan Subsidy
Program to include participation by paraeducators and school counselors and
renames the program accordingly. By law, this program provides subsidized
interest rates on CHESLA loans to eligible borrowers employed in alliance districts,
subject to available funding.
§ 6 — CHESLA POLICE OFFICER LOAN SUBSIDY PROGRAM
The act requires CHESLA, by July 1, 2024, to establish a Police Officer Loan
Subsidy Program to subsidize interest rates on CHESLA loans to eligible sworn
members of municipal police departments employed in distressed municipalities,
subject to available funding. (The Department of Economic and Community
Development annually designates distressed municipalities based on high
unemployment and poverty, aging housing stock, and low or declining rates of job,
population, and per capita income growth (CGS § 32-9p).)
CHESLA must maintain a separate, non-lapsing account to hold funds for the
program required by law to be deposited there, including any state appropriation
and the proceeds from bonds issued for the program’s purposes.
Eligibility Criteria and Administrative Guidelines
The act requires CHESLA to establish the program’s eligibility criteria and
administrative guidelines in consultation with the Police Officer Standards Training
Council. The criteria and guidelines must address at least the following:
1. applicant eligibility,
2. interest rate subsidies and principal limits,
3. the process for verifying applicants’ employment, and
4. the requirement that an interest rate subsidy through the program ends if a
recipient no longer meets the program’s employment requirements during
the loan’s term.
Program Account Expenditures
Under the act, CHESLA must use the funds in the program’s account to
subsidize the program’s loans and to:
1. cover reasonable and necessary expenses for program administration, O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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2. issue authority loans to refinance one or more eligible loans, and
3. maintain a reserve for any losses from issuing authority loans.
“Authority loans” are education loans by CHESLA or CHESLA loans from the
proceeds of bonds to fund education loans. “Eligible loans” are loans in repayment
that were issued by CHESLA or another private or governmental lender to finance
post-secondary education.
§§ 7 & 8 — CHESLA LOAN SUBSIDY PROGRAM FOR HEALTH CARE AND
EMS PROFESSIONALS
PA 23-60 requires CHESLA to establish a Nursing and Mental Health Care
Professionals Loan Subsidy Program to subsidize interest rates on CHESLA
refinancing loans to certain Connecticut-licensed nurses, nurse’s aides,
psychologists, marital and family therapists, clinical and master social workers, and
professional counselors. This act broadens the program’s scope to include EMS
professionals and correspondingly renames the program. Under the act, to qualify,
the EMS professional must (1) be certified by the Department of Public Health as
an emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician, or advanced
emergency medical technician; (2) be actively employed in an EMS setting; and (3)
meet the program’s eligibility criteria and administrative guidelines set by
CHESLA and the education commissioner.