HB 69
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AN ACT
RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; ENACTING THE PUBLIC SERVICE
LOAN FORGIVENESS MULTIPLIER ACT; PROVIDING A MULTIPLIER FOR
ADJUNCT AND CONTINGENT FACULTY AT POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF FULL-TIME
EMPLOYMENT STATUS; PROVIDING FOR NOTICE AND RENEWAL OF A
PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS FORM; PROVIDING FOR THE
DISSEMINATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS INFORMATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the
"Public Service Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Multiplier Act:
A. "certifying employment" means either completing
the employer sections of the public service loan forgiveness
form or sharing data directly with the United States
department of education that corresponds to the information
required for the public service loan forgiveness form;
B. "employee" means someone who works for a public
service employer, regardless of whether the public service HB 69
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employer considers that work to be full-time or part-time,
contingent or contracted, or who receives a form W-2 from the
employer;
C. "full-time" means the lesser of:
(1) working at least an average of thirty
hours per week or working at least an average of thirty hours
per week throughout a contractual or employment period of at
least eight months in a twelve-month period; or
(2) an hourly standard adopted by the United
States department of education;
D. "public service employer" means a post-
secondary educational institution in the state that is
designated as a qualifying employer under the federal public
service loan forgiveness program by the United States
department of education;
E. "public service loan forgiveness form" means
the form used by the United States department of education to
certify an individual's employment at a public service
organization and is used to determine eligibility for the
purposes of the public service loan forgiveness program; and
F. "public service loan forgiveness program" means
the federal loan forgiveness program established pursuant to
34 C.F.R. Section 685.219, as amended."
SECTION 3. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read: HB 69
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"CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT--HOUR MULTIPLIER--
DETERMINATION OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT.--
A. For the purposes of certifying employment for
the public service loan forgiveness program for employees who
are former or current adjunct professors or contingent
faculty at a post-secondary educational institution, a public
service employer shall credit at least four and thirty-five
hundredths hours worked for each hour of credit or classroom
contact time, regardless of when the hours are worked,
including hours worked on or after October 1, 2007. The
provisions of this subsection shall not supersede any greater
adjustment factor established by a collective bargaining
agreement or employer policy in recognition of additional
work associated with lecture or classroom time for the
purpose of the public service loan forgiveness program and
shall have no other applicability for public service
employers and employees.
B. When determining whether an employee is
considered full-time, for the purpose of certifying
employment for the public service loan forgiveness program
only, a public service employer shall not treat any adjusted
total hours worked pursuant to this section differently from
hours worked without an adjustment factor.
C. For the purpose of certifying employment only,
a public service employer shall: HB 69
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(1) consider as full-time, as necessary, any
employee who satisfies the definition of "full-time" pursuant
to Subsection C of Section 2 of the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Multiplier Act; and
(2) treat as a continuous employment period
any consecutive academic terms for which an employee teaches,
regardless of whether such hours are taught pursuant to
separate employment contracts and regardless of whether such
academic terms are separated by routine academic vacation,
but only to the extent that doing so maximizes the amount of
time for which an employee's employment can be considered
full-time.
D. A public service employer shall adopt a policy
of maximizing the amount of time for which an employee's
employment can be considered full-time. Nothing in this
section shall require a public service employee to increase
the number of contracted hours for which the employee is
paid.
E. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section,
should the United States department of education promulgate
rules related to the calculation of hours worked for the
purposes of certifying employment for the public service loan
forgiveness program that are more favorable to employees than
those requirements provided herein, those rules shall
govern." HB 69
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SECTION 4. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION--PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN
FORGIVENESS FORM--CALCULATION OF TIME WORKED.--
A. In the event that the United States department
of education permits public service employers to certify
employment for past or present individual employees or groups
of employees directly with the United States department of
education or its agents, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, a public service employer shall be permitted to send
to the United States department of education or its agents
the information necessary for employment certification.
B. Subject to the provisions of this section, a
public service employer shall certify the employment of:
(1) any former or current employee who
requests that the public service employer complete a public
service loan forgiveness form; and
(2) any employee who is ending work with the
public service employer.
C. The public service employer shall certify the
period of employment requested by the former or current
employee or, if no period is specified, shall certify a
former or current employee’s entire period of employment.
D. Post-secondary educational institutions shall
use the calculation established in Section 3 of the Public HB 69
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Service Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act and may apply it to
hours worked beginning October 1, 2007, only for the purpose
of determining whether a part-time employee is considered
full-time for the public service loan forgiveness program.
E. A public service employer shall not
unreasonably delay certifying employment.
F. Nothing in this section shall prevent a public
service employer from seeking permission from employees prior
to certifying the employees' employment."
SECTION 5. A new section of Chapter 21 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DUTIES--PUBLIC SERVICE
EMPLOYER DUTIES--DISSEMINATION OF LOAN FORGIVENESS
INFORMATION.--
A. The secretary of higher education or the
secretary's designee shall develop and update, as necessary,
materials designed to promote and increase awareness of the
public service loan forgiveness program. The secretary or
the secretary's designee may use materials developed by other
state agencies or by the United States department of
education, as appropriate. The materials shall include:
(1) a standardized letter for public service
employers to distribute to employees that briefly summarizes
the public service loan forgiveness program, provides
information about what eligible employees are required to do HB 69
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to benefit from the program and recommends that eligible
employees contact their student loan service for additional
resources;
(2) a detailed fact sheet describing the
public service loan forgiveness program, including the
official websites maintained by the United States department
of education for the program and by the United States
department of the treasury for student loan borrower
resources; and
(3) a document containing frequently asked
questions about the public service loan forgiveness program.
B. The secretary of higher education shall
coordinate with other state agencies and offices, as
necessary, to make the materials available to public service
employers.
C. Each public service employer shall annually
provide to all employees the most recent available version of
the materials required pursuant to Subsection A of this
section in written or electronic form. In addition to those
materials, a public service employer shall provide a newly
hired employee with those same materials within thirty days
of the employee's first day of employment by mail, by
electronic mail or during an in-person new employee
orientation."
SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the HB 69
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provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.