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A2126
ASSEMBLY, No. 2126
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Bhalla
SYNOPSIS
���� Expands approved sites under Behavioral Healthcare
Provider Loan Redemption Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the Behavioral Healthcare Provider
Loan Redemption Program and amending P.L.2022, c.34.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2022,
c.34 (C.18A:71C-87) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.��� As used in this act:
���� "Approved site"
means a community provider of behavioral and mental health services identified
by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, in consultation with the
Department of Health, for inclusion in the program.� Approved sites may
include, but need not be limited to, providers operated by a nonprofit
or
for-profit entity
, institution of higher education, school district,
county, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Human
Services, and the Department of Health.
���� "Authority" means
the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.
���� "Eligible behavioral
healthcare providers" means psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed
clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse mental health clinical specialists;
board certified behavior analysts; licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselors;
and any other professionals identified by the executive director of the
authority for inclusion in the program.
���� "Eligible qualifying loan
expenses" means the cumulative outstanding balance of student loans
covering the cost of attendance at an undergraduate or graduate institution of
higher education at the time an applicant is selected for the program.�
Interest paid or due on qualifying loans that an applicant has taken out for
use in paying the costs of undergraduate or graduate education shall be
considered eligible for reimbursement under the program.� The authority may
establish a limit on the total amount of qualifying loans which may be redeemed
for participants under the program, provided that the total redemption of
qualifying loans does not exceed $150,000, or the maximum amount authorized by
the federal government, whichever is greater, either in State funds or the sum
of federal, State, and other non-federal matching funds, pursuant to section
338I of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. s.254q-1), whichever is
applicable.
���� "Executive director"
means the executive director of the Higher Education Student Assistance
Authority.
���� "Program" means the
Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program established pursuant to
this act.
���� "Program
participant" means a behavioral healthcare provider who contracts with the
authority to engage in the clinical practice of mental or behavioral healthcare
at an approved site in exchange for the redemption of eligible qualifying loan
expenses provided under the program.
���� "Qualifying loan"
means a government or commercial loan for the actual costs paid for tuition and
reasonable education and living expenses relating to the obtaining of a degree
for use in a mental or behavioral healthcare profession.
���� "Total and permanent
disability" means a physical or mental disability that is expected to
continue indefinitely or result in death and renders a participant in the
program unable to perform that person's service obligation, as determined by the
executive director or his designee.
(cf: P.L.2022, c.34, s.1)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall first apply to applications submitted for the
Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program on or after the date of
enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill expands the approved
sites under the Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program. Under
the program, behavioral healthcare providers who enter into a contract to work
at an approved site are eligible to apply for student loan redemption.
���� The bill revises current law
to permit a for-profit community provider of behavioral and mental health
services to be considered an approved site under the program. Under current law
an approved site includes a community provider of behavioral and mental health
services operated by nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and
governmental entities, as identified by the Higher Education Student Assistance
Authority, in consultation with the Department of Health.