Senate Bill sb1060c1
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1060
By the Committees on Education; Health Care; and Senators
Fasano, Peaden and Miller
581-1823-05
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 appropriation
21 to the Florida Center for Nursing for
22 conducting a study, analyzing data, and
23 planning to implement recommendations relating
24 to the nursing shortage in this state;
25 providing an effective date.
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27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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29 Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 1009.66, Florida
30 Statutes, is amended to read:
31 1009.66 Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.--
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1060
581-1823-05
1 (7) Funds contained in the Nursing Student Loan
2 Forgiveness Trust Fund which are to be used for loan
3 forgiveness for those nurses employed by hospitals, birth
4 centers, and nursing homes and for those nurses employed as
5 faculty in an approved nursing program must be matched on a
6 dollar-for-dollar basis by contributions from the employing
7 institutions, except that this provision shall not apply to
8 state-operated medical and health care facilities, public
9 schools, county health departments, federally sponsored
10 community health centers, teaching hospitals as defined in s.
11 408.07, family practice teaching hospitals as defined in s.
12 395.805, or specialty hospitals for children as used in s.
13 409.9119. An estimate of the annual trust fund dollars shall
14 be made at the beginning of the fiscal year based on historic
15 expenditures from the trust fund. Applicant requests shall be
16 reviewed on a quarterly basis, and applicant awards shall be
17 based on the following priority of employer until all such
18 estimated trust funds are awarded: nursing programs approved
19 by the Board of Nursing; state-operated medical and health
20 care facilities; public schools; county health departments;
21 federally sponsored community health centers; teaching
22 hospitals as defined in s. 408.07; family practice teaching
23 hospitals as defined in s. 395.805; specialty hospitals for
24 children as used in s. 409.9119; and other hospitals, birth
25 centers, and nursing homes.
26 Section 2. The sum of $2,400,000 is appropriated from
27 the General Revenue Fund to the Nursing Student Loan
28 Forgiveness Trust Fund. Priority for receipt of these funds
29 shall be graduates who have received a master's degree or a
30 doctoral degree in nursing and are employed as faculty in an
31 approved nursing program in this state.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1060
581-1823-05
1 Section 3. The sum of $6,620,519 is appropriated from
2 the General Revenue Fund to the Workforce Development
3 Capitalization Incentive Grant Program within the Department
4 of Education for the purpose of increasing the capacity of
5 community college and postsecondary vocational nursing
6 programs.
7 Section 4. The sum of $10,141,600 is appropriated from
8 the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Colleges and
9 Universities of the Department of Education for the purpose of
10 establishing a contract grants program for increasing the
11 capacity of nursing programs at public universities.
12 Institutions may apply for grants from this program if the
13 application includes a contract between the institution and
14 the state to produce a specific number of nursing graduates
15 within an appropriate time period. The division must give
16 priority to institutions that target for enrollment and
17 graduation exiting military personnel, students seeking
18 postgraduate degrees, and students committed to serving as
19 faculty within state public or private nursing programs. The
20 division must encourage institutions to form public or private
21 partnerships to match the grant through financial or in-kind
22 contributions. Grants may be used for capital or operating
23 purposes, including student financial assistance. The division
24 shall report to the Legislature by March 1, 2006, on this
25 program.
26 Section 5. The sum of $4 million is appropriated from
27 the General Revenue fund to the Department of Education for
28 grants to private colleges and universities for the purpose of
29 increasing the capacity of nursing programs approved by the
30 Board of Nursing at private colleges and universities.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1060
581-1823-05
1 Section 6. The Board of Nursing shall adopt rules to
2 require applicants for nursing licensure and licensed nurses
3 to submit employment data, education data, and other workforce
4 information at the time of initial licensure and license
5 renewal. The Board of Nursing may provide a form to employers
6 for collecting data concerning the employment of nurses who
7 practice nursing in this state. The board may provide such
8 workforce information to the Florida Center for Nursing in
9 order to assist the center in achieving the goals specified in
10 section 464.0195, Florida Statutes.
11 Section 7. The sum of $256,000 is appropriated from
12 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health to be
13 used by the Board of Nursing to gather information regarding
14 the nursing workforce at the time of initial licensure and
15 license renewal. In coordination with the Board of Nursing,
16 the department may use part of this appropriation for a
17 contract with the Florida Center for Nursing to develop a
18 survey instrument to be used by the board to gather workforce
19 data.
20 Section 8. The sum of $96,000 is appropriated from the
21 General Revenue Fund to the Agency for Workforce Innovation
22 for the purpose of funding programs that deliver nursing
23 education at the worksite in order to enable working nursing
24 assistants to achieve a nursing license and nurses to achieve
25 a higher level of nursing license. These grants shall be known
26 as "Clara Ramsey Workforce Education Grants."
27 Section 9. The sum of $2 million is appropriated from
28 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Education for
29 the purpose of funding the Sunshine Workforce Solutions Grant
30 Program.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1060
581-1823-05
1 Section 10. The sum of $1.5 million is appropriated
2 from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida Center for
3 Nursing for the purpose of conducting a study to determine the
4 impact of a program to "fast-track BSN to graduate degrees" on
5 the preparation of clinical nurses capable of addressing the
6 nursing shortage in this state. Further, these funds are
7 appropriated to provide for the necessary analysis of data and
8 planning to implement recommendations made by the Florida
9 Center for Nursing in addressing the nursing shortage.
10 Section 11. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
11 law.
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13 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
14 Senate Bill 1060
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16 The committee substitute:
17 Appropriates $1.5 million from the General Revenue Fund to the
Florida Center for Nursing to conduct a study to
18 determine the impact of a program to fast-track Bachelor
of Science Nursing degree holders to graduate degrees;
19 and
20 Provides that funds to deliver nursing education programs at
the worksite be named the "Clara Ramsey Workforce
21 Education Grants."
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