Florida Senate - 2016                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 290
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì683966ZÎ683966                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/01/2016           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       Appropriations Subcommittee on Education (Bullard) recommended
       the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 1009.641, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         1009.641 STEM Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.—
    8         (1) The STEM Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, administered
    9  by the Department of Education, is established to encourage and
   10  incentivize qualified Florida college graduates to remain in
   11  this state to teach STEM courses at a public school.
   12         (2) To be eligible to participate in this program, a
   13  teacher must meet all of the following criteria:
   14         (a) Receive a baccalaureate or graduate degree from a
   15  Florida public postsecondary education institution.
   16         (b) Hold a valid Florida educator’s certificate under s.
   17  1012.56.
   18         (c) Be employed by a public school district and assigned to
   19  teach a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM)
   20  course at a public school in this state for 8 consecutive years.
   21         (d) Not receive student loan repayment assistance from any
   22  other state, local, or federal program or private fund.
   23         (3) The program may cover only those loans received by
   24  students from federal programs or commercial lending
   25  institutions for the support of the study of education at a
   26  postsecondary education institution.
   27         (4) The department may make loan repayments, which shall be
   28  prorated based on available appropriations, of up to $4,000 a
   29  year for up to 4 years on behalf of teachers who meet the
   30  eligibility requirements under subsection (2). All loan
   31  repayments shall be made directly to the holder of the loan and
   32  shall be contingent on proof of continued employment by a public
   33  school district and of continued assignment to teach a STEM
   34  course.
   35         (5) The department may use only up to 1 percent of the
   36  funds appropriated for the program to administer this section,
   37  unless the General Appropriations Act authorizes a different
   38  amount for such purpose.
   39         (6) This section shall be implemented only as specifically
   40  funded.
   41         (7) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
   42  administer the program.
   43         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.
   44  
   45  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   46  And the title is amended as follows:
   47         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   48  and insert:
   49                        A bill to be entitled                      
   50         An act relating to the STEM Teacher Loan Forgiveness
   51         Program; creating s. 1009.641, F.S.; creating the STEM
   52         Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program; providing for the
   53         administration of the program; providing for teacher
   54         eligibility; specifying the type of loans the program
   55         covers; authorizing the Department of Education to
   56         make specified loan repayments; authorizing the
   57         department to use up to a specified percentage of
   58         available funds to administer the program; providing
   59         for implementation and rulemaking; providing an
   60         effective date.