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S850 FISCAL ESTIMATE
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 850
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
DATED: MARCH 10, 2026
SUMMARY
Synopsis:
"Public-Private Alliance to Retain Talent and Expand
Regional Health Program Act"; creates grant program within DOH for
student-loan and tuition relief and appropriates $5 million.
Type of Impact:
Annual increase in State expenditures.
Agencies Affected:
Department of Health.
Office of
Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Year 1
Year 2 and Beyond
State Expenditure Increase
Up to $5.0 million
Indeterminate
�
The
Office of Legislative Services (OLS) determines that State costs will increase
by up to $5.0 million in the first year following the bill�s enactment for the Department
of Health to award grants to servicers to provide student loan or tuition
relief for health care professionals and students who sign a three-year
employment agreement with an in-State partner hospital.� Program costs in
subsequent years will be dependent on the number of health care professionals
and students who participate in the program and any additional appropriations
for the program.
�
The
bill may result in indeterminate, but likely marginal, cost increases for the department
to administer the new grant program, to the extent that existing staff and
resources are insufficient to implement the bill�s provisions.�
BILL DESCRIPTION
�����
The bill establishes
the Public-Private Alliance to Retain Talent and Expand Regional Health Program
within the Department of Health to recruit and retain certain health care
professionals and health care professional students by helping the professionals
and students secure post-graduate employment at an in-State partner hospital,
in exchange for student loan or tuition relief.� The department will award
grants to one or more recruitment and retention servicers to provide up to
$10,000 in student loan or tuition relief, or $30,000 in total, to each health
care professional and student who signs a three-year employment agreement with an
in-State partner hospital.�
���� The bill also stipulates
that a servicer must secure agreements of a 200 percent non-State sourced funding
match from each partner hospital in order to receive State grant funding,
unless the partner hospital is University Hospital.
���� The bill appropriates
$5.0 million from the State General Fund to effectuate the purposes of the
program.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
����� None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
����� The OLS determines that State costs will increase by up
to $5.0 million in the first year following the bill�s enactment for the Department
of Health to award grants to servicers to provide student loan or tuition
relief for health care professionals and students who sign a three-year
employment agreement with an in-State partner hospital.� Program costs in
subsequent years will be dependent on the number of health care professionals
and students who participate in the program and any additional appropriations
for the program.
����� Under a hypothetical scenario in which the new program
enrolls a single cohort of 166 participants signing a three-year employment
agreement with an in-State partner hospital, State expenditures would increase
by as much as $1.67 million in each of the three years of the cohort�s service.
However, participation trends in other State loan redemption programs suggest
that the actual cohort size for this program could be smaller.� Table 1 shows participation
trends for FY 2020 through FY 2025 for the Primary Care Practitioner Loan
Redemption Program and the Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption
Program, which are administered by the New Jersey Higher Education Student
Assistance Authority.�
Table 1: Participation trends for other State-funded loan redemption
programs
Fiscal Year
Primary Care Practitioner LRP No. Participants
Behavioral Healthcare Provider LRP No. Participants
2020
6
N/A
2021
6
N/A
2022
6
N/A
2023
18
50
2024
14
43
2025
7
72
Source: FY
2020-FY 2024 data: Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA)
response to OLS FY 2026 Discussion Point Question No. 3.� FY 2025 data from HESAA
Fiscal Years 2024 & 2025 Annual Report.
����� Given that the bill broadly defines �health care
professional� to include nearly all health care professionals licensed or
otherwise authorized under Titles 45 and 52 of the Revised Statutes, with few
exceptions, the OLS would anticipate that program participation trends would
more closely approximate those of the Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan
Redemption Program, rather than the more restrictive Primary Care Practitioner
Loan Redemption Program.� For illustrative purposes only, Table 2 shows the
possible range of annual program costs based on annual cohort sizes of 40 and
70 participants over three years.
Table 2: Potential program costs by cohort size
Program Year
Avg. Cohort of 40 Participants
Avg. Cohort of 70 Participants
Single Cohort
All Cohorts
Single Cohort
All Cohorts
Year 1
$400,000
$400,000
$700,000
$700,000
Year 2
$400,000
$800,000
$700,000
$1.4 million
Year 3 & on
$400,000
$1.2 million
$700,000
$2.1 million
����� The OLS notes that potential interaction between the
grant program established under the bill and other existing health care professional
loan redemption programs in the State, such as the Behavioral Healthcare
Provider Loan Redemption Program, is unknown.� Given that the bill does not
prohibit health care professionals or students from participating in multiple
student loan redemption or repayment assistance programs available at the State
or federal level, some health care professionals and students may qualify for
more than one form of State-funded assistance.
����� The bill may result in indeterminate, but likely
marginal, cost increases for the department to administer the new grant
program, to the extent that existing staff and resources are insufficient to
implement the bill�s provisions.� Absent information from the department, the
OLS lacks the informational basis to determine these administrative costs.
Section:
Human Services
Analyst:
Anne Cappabianca
Senior Fiscal Analyst
Approved:
Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the
Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to
respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980,
c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).