Senate Bill sb7026pb
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7026
FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Health Care
587-918C-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 Board of Nursing to adopt rules
11 requiring nursing applicants and licensees to
12 submit certain information concerning
13 employment and education; authorizing the board
14 to provide such information to the Florida
15 Center for Nursing; providing an effective
16 date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 1009.66, Florida
21 Statutes, is amended to read:
22 1009.66 Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.--
23 (7) Funds contained in the Nursing Student Loan
24 Forgiveness Trust Fund which are to be used for loan
25 forgiveness for those nurses employed by hospitals, birth
26 centers, and nursing homes and for those nurses employed as
27 faculty in an approved nursing program must be matched on a
28 dollar-for-dollar basis by contributions from the employing
29 institutions, except that this provision shall not apply to
30 state-operated medical and health care facilities, public
31 schools, county health departments, federally sponsored
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7026
587-918C-05
1 community health centers, teaching hospitals as defined in s.
2 408.07, family practice teaching hospitals as defined in s.
3 395.805, or specialty hospitals for children as used in s.
4 409.9119. An estimate of the annual trust fund dollars shall
5 be made at the beginning of the fiscal year based on historic
6 expenditures from the trust fund. Applicant requests shall be
7 reviewed on a quarterly basis, and applicant awards shall be
8 based on the following priority of employer until all such
9 estimated trust funds are awarded: nursing programs approved
10 by the Florida Board of Nursing; state-operated medical and
11 health care facilities; public schools; county health
12 departments; federally sponsored community health centers;
13 teaching hospitals as defined in s. 408.07; family practice
14 teaching hospitals as defined in s. 395.805; specialty
15 hospitals for children as used in s. 409.9119; and other
16 hospitals, birth centers, and nursing homes.
17 Section 2. The sum of $2,400,000 is appropriated from
18 the General Revenue Fund to the Nursing Student Loan
19 Forgiveness Trust Fund. Priority for receipt of these funds
20 shall be graduates who have received a master's degree or a
21 doctoral degree in nursing and are employed as faculty in an
22 approved nursing program in this state.
23 Section 3. The sum of $6,620,519 is appropriated from
24 the General Revenue Fund to the Workforce Development
25 Capitalization Incentive Grant Program within the Department
26 of Education for the purpose of increasing the capacity of
27 community college nursing programs.
28 Section 4. The sum of $10,141,600 is appropriated from
29 the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Colleges and
30 Universities of the Department of Education for the purpose of
31
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7026
587-918C-05
1 increasing the capacity of nursing programs at public colleges
2 and universities.
3 Section 5. The Board of Nursing shall adopt rules to
4 require applicants for nursing licensure and licensed nurses
5 to submit employment data, education data, and other workforce
6 information at the time of initial licensure and license
7 renewal. The Board of Nursing may provide a form to employers
8 for collecting data concerning the employment of nurses who
9 practice nursing in this state. The board may provide such
10 workforce information to the Florida Center for Nursing in
11 order to assist the center in achieving the goals specified in
12 section 464.0195, Florida Statutes.
13 Section 6. The sum of $256,000 is appropriated from
14 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health to be
15 used by the Board of Nursing to gather information regarding
16 the nursing workforce at the time of initial licensure and
17 license renewal. In coordination with the Board of Nursing,
18 the department may use part of this appropriation for a
19 contract with the Florida Center for Nursing to develop a
20 survey instrument to be used by the board to gather workforce
21 data.
22 Section 7. The sum of $96,000 is appropriated from the
23 General Revenue Fund to the Agency for Workforce Innovation
24 for the purpose of funding programs that deliver nursing
25 education at the worksite in order to enable working nursing
26 assistants to achieve a nursing license and nurses to achieve
27 a higher level of nursing license.
28 Section 8. The sum of $2 million is appropriated from
29 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Education for
30 the purpose of funding the Sunshine Workforce Solutions Grant
31 Program.
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7026
587-918C-05
1 Section 9. The sum of $50,000 is appropriated from the
2 General Revenue Fund to the Department of Health for the
3 purpose of funding a nursing fair at a central location in
4 this state and a website for recruiting nurses to work in
5 health care facilities in this state.
6 Section 10. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
7 law.
8
9 *****************************************
10 SENATE SUMMARY
11 Requires that nurses employed as faculty in an approved
nursing program be given priority in receiving funds
12 under the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
Requires the Board of Nursing to adopt rules to require
13 that nursing applicants and licensees submit information
concerning employment and education. Authorizes the board
14 to provide such information to the Florida Center for
Nursing. Provides appropriations.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.