Senate Bill sb1060
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 1060
By the Committee on Health Care; and Senators Peaden and
Fasano
587-918D-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to increasing the number of
3 nurses in the state's workforce; amending s.
4 1009.66, F.S.; revising the criteria for
5 receiving funds under the Nursing Student Loan
6 Forgiveness Program; requiring that nurses
7 employed as faculty in an approved nursing
8 program be given priority in receiving funds
9 under the program; providing appropriations;
10 requiring the Division of Colleges and
11 Universities of the Department of Education to
12 establish a contract grants program; providing
13 requirements for priority funding; requiring
14 the division to report to the Legislature;
15 requiring the Board of Nursing to adopt rules
16 requiring nursing applicants and licensees to
17 submit certain information concerning
18 employment and education; authorizing the board
19 to provide such information to the Florida
20 Center for Nursing; providing an effective
21 date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 1009.66, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 1009.66 Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.--
28 (7) Funds contained in the Nursing Student Loan
29 Forgiveness Trust Fund which are to be used for loan
30 forgiveness for those nurses employed by hospitals, birth
31 centers, and nursing homes and for those nurses employed as
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 1060
587-918D-05
1 faculty in an approved nursing program must be matched on a
2 dollar-for-dollar basis by contributions from the employing
3 institutions, except that this provision shall not apply to
4 state-operated medical and health care facilities, public
5 schools, county health departments, federally sponsored
6 community health centers, teaching hospitals as defined in s.
7 408.07, family practice teaching hospitals as defined in s.
8 395.805, or specialty hospitals for children as used in s.
9 409.9119. An estimate of the annual trust fund dollars shall
10 be made at the beginning of the fiscal year based on historic
11 expenditures from the trust fund. Applicant requests shall be
12 reviewed on a quarterly basis, and applicant awards shall be
13 based on the following priority of employer until all such
14 estimated trust funds are awarded: nursing programs approved
15 by the Board of Nursing; state-operated medical and health
16 care facilities; public schools; county health departments;
17 federally sponsored community health centers; teaching
18 hospitals as defined in s. 408.07; family practice teaching
19 hospitals as defined in s. 395.805; specialty hospitals for
20 children as used in s. 409.9119; and other hospitals, birth
21 centers, and nursing homes.
22 Section 2. The sum of $2,400,000 is appropriated from
23 the General Revenue Fund to the Nursing Student Loan
24 Forgiveness Trust Fund. Priority for receipt of these funds
25 shall be graduates who have received a master's degree or a
26 doctoral degree in nursing and are employed as faculty in an
27 approved nursing program in this state.
28 Section 3. The sum of $6,620,519 is appropriated from
29 the General Revenue Fund to the Workforce Development
30 Capitalization Incentive Grant Program within the Department
31 of Education for the purpose of increasing the capacity of
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 1060
587-918D-05
1 community college and postsecondary vocational nursing
2 programs.
3 Section 4. The sum of $10,141,600 is appropriated from
4 the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Colleges and
5 Universities of the Department of Education for the purpose of
6 establishing a contract grants program for increasing the
7 capacity of nursing programs at public universities.
8 Institutions may apply for grants from this program if the
9 application includes a contract between the institution and
10 the state to produce a specific number of nursing graduates
11 within an appropriate time period. The division must give
12 priority to institutions that target for enrollment and
13 graduation exiting military personnel, students seeking
14 postgraduate degrees, and students committed to serving as
15 faculty within state public or private nursing programs. The
16 division must encourage institutions to form public or private
17 partnerships to match the grant through financial or in-kind
18 contributions. Grants may be used for capital or operating
19 purposes, including student financial assistance. The division
20 shall report to the Legislature by March 1, 2006, on this
21 program.
22 Section 5. The sum of $4 million is appropriated from
23 the General Revenue fund to the Department of Education for
24 grants to private colleges and universities for the purpose of
25 increasing the capacity of nursing programs approved by the
26 Board of Nursing at private colleges and universities.
27 Section 6. The Board of Nursing shall adopt rules to
28 require applicants for nursing licensure and licensed nurses
29 to submit employment data, education data, and other workforce
30 information at the time of initial licensure and license
31 renewal. The Board of Nursing may provide a form to employers
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 1060
587-918D-05
1 for collecting data concerning the employment of nurses who
2 practice nursing in this state. The board may provide such
3 workforce information to the Florida Center for Nursing in
4 order to assist the center in achieving the goals specified in
5 section 464.0195, Florida Statutes.
6 Section 7. The sum of $256,000 is appropriated from
7 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health to be
8 used by the Board of Nursing to gather information regarding
9 the nursing workforce at the time of initial licensure and
10 license renewal. In coordination with the Board of Nursing,
11 the department may use part of this appropriation for a
12 contract with the Florida Center for Nursing to develop a
13 survey instrument to be used by the board to gather workforce
14 data.
15 Section 8. The sum of $96,000 is appropriated from the
16 General Revenue Fund to the Agency for Workforce Innovation
17 for the purpose of funding programs that deliver nursing
18 education at the worksite in order to enable working nursing
19 assistants to achieve a nursing license and nurses to achieve
20 a higher level of nursing license.
21 Section 9. The sum of $2 million is appropriated from
22 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Education for
23 the purpose of funding the Sunshine Workforce Solutions Grant
24 Program.
25 Section 10. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
26 law.
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