Bill Text: IL SB3944 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Creates the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that all money in the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Department of Public Health to provide scholarships to nurse educators. Provides that each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement the nurse educator scholarship provisions. Makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that, for fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $6,000,000 (instead of $4,000,000) of the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-03 - Referred to Assignments [SB3944 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3944-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB3944 Introduced 5/3/2024, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
30 ILCS 105/5.1015 new
110 ILCS 975/6.5
225 ILCS 65/70-50 was 225 ILCS 65/20-40
Amends the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Creates the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that all money in the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, by the Department of Public Health to provide scholarships to nurse educators. Provides that each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement the nurse educator scholarship provisions. Makes a conforming change in the State Finance Act. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that, for fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal year thereafter, $6,000,000 (instead of $4,000,000) of the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
SB3944 LRB103 40451 RJT 72805 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.1015 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.1015 new)
Sec. 5.1015. The Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund.
Section 10. The Nursing Education Scholarship Law is
amended by changing Section 6.5 as follows:
(110 ILCS 975/6.5)
Sec. 6.5. Nurse educator scholarships.
(a) The Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund is created as a
special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Nurse
Educator Scholarship Fund shall be used, subject to
appropriation, by the Department to provide scholarships under
this Law. Each fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2024, the State
Comptroller shall transfer $1,500,000 from the General Revenue
Fund to the Nurse Educator Scholarship Fund to implement this
Section. The Beginning with the fall term of the 2009-2010
academic year, the Department shall provide scholarships to
individuals selected from among those applicants who qualify

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for consideration by showing the following:
(1) that he or she has been a resident of this State
for at least one year prior to application and is a citizen
or a lawful permanent resident of the United States;
(2) that he or she is enrolled in or accepted for
admission to a graduate degree in nursing program at an
approved institution; and
(3) that he or she agrees to meet the nurse educator
employment obligation.
(b) If in any year the number of qualified applicants
exceeds the number of scholarships to be awarded under this
Section, the Department shall, in consultation with the
Illinois Nursing Workforce Center Advisory Board, consider the
following factors in granting priority in awarding
scholarships:
(1) Financial need, as shown on a standardized
financial needs assessment form used by an approved
institution, of students who will pursue their education
on a full-time or close to full-time basis and who already
have a diploma in nursing and are pursuing a higher
degree.
(2) A student's status as a registered nurse who is
pursuing a graduate degree in nursing to pursue employment
in an approved institution that educates licensed
practical nurses and that educates registered nurses in
undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.

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(3) A student's merit, as shown through his or her
grade point average, class rank, experience as a nurse,
including supervisory experience, experience as a nurse in
the United States military, and other academic and
extracurricular activities.
(c) Unless otherwise indicated, scholarships under this
Section shall be awarded to recipients at approved
institutions for a period of up to 3 years.
(d) Within 12 months after graduation from a graduate
degree in nursing program for nurse educators, any recipient
who accepted a scholarship under this Section shall begin
meeting the required nurse educator employment obligation. In
order to defer his or her continuous employment obligation, a
recipient must request the deferment in writing from the
Department. A recipient shall receive a deferment if he or she
notifies the Department, within 30 days after enlisting, that
he or she is spending up to 4 years in military service. A
recipient shall receive a deferment if he or she notifies the
Department, within 30 days after enrolling, that he or she is
enrolled in an academic program leading to a graduate degree
in nursing. The recipient must begin meeting the required
nurse educator employment obligation no later than 6 months
after the end of the deferment or deferments.
Any person who fails to fulfill the nurse educator
employment obligation shall pay to the Department an amount
equal to the amount of scholarship funds received per year for

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each unfulfilled year of the nurse educator employment
obligation, together with interest at 7% per year on the
unpaid balance. Payment must begin within 6 months following
the date of the occurrence initiating the repayment. All
repayments must be completed within 6 years from the date of
the occurrence initiating the repayment. However, this
repayment obligation may be deferred and re-evaluated every 6
months when the failure to fulfill the nurse educator
employment obligation results from involuntarily leaving the
profession due to a decrease in the number of nurses employed
in this State or when the failure to fulfill the nurse educator
employment obligation results from total and permanent
disability. The repayment obligation shall be excused if the
failure to fulfill the nurse educator employment obligation
results from the death or adjudication as incompetent of the
person holding the scholarship. No claim for repayment may be
filed against the estate of such a decedent or incompetent.
The Department may allow a nurse educator employment
obligation fulfillment alternative if the nurse educator
scholarship recipient is unsuccessful in finding work as a
nurse educator. The Department shall maintain a database of
all available nurse educator positions in this State.
(e) Each person applying for a scholarship under this
Section must be provided with a copy of this Section at the
time of application for the benefits of this scholarship.
(f) Rulemaking authority to implement this Law Act is

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conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance with all
provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and
all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on
Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for
whatever reason, is unauthorized.
(Source: P.A. 102-699, eff. 4-19-22; 102-1030, eff. 5-27-22;
103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)
Section 15. The Nurse Practice Act is amended by changing
Section 70-50 as follows:
(225 ILCS 65/70-50) (was 225 ILCS 65/20-40)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
Sec. 70-50. Fund.
(a) There is hereby created within the State Treasury the
Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund. The monies in the
Fund may be used by and at the direction of the Department for
the administration and enforcement of this Act, including, but
not limited to:
(1) Distribution and publication of this Act and
rules.
(2) Employment of secretarial, nursing,
administrative, enforcement, and other staff for the
administration of this Act.
(b) Disposition of fees:
(1) $5 of every licensure fee shall be placed in a fund

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for assistance to nurses enrolled in a diversionary
program as approved by the Department.
(2) All of the fees, fines, and penalties collected
pursuant to this Act shall be deposited in the Nursing
Dedicated and Professional Fund.
(3) Each fiscal year, the moneys deposited in the
Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund shall be
appropriated to the Department for expenses of the
Department and the Board in the administration of this
Act. All earnings received from investment of moneys in
the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund shall be
deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund
and shall be used for the same purposes as fees deposited
in the Fund.
(4) For fiscal years 2010 through 2022, $2,000,000 of
the moneys deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and
Professional Fund each year shall be set aside and
appropriated to the Department of Public Health for
nursing scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing
Education Scholarship Law. For fiscal year 2023 and for
each fiscal year thereafter, $4,000,000 of the moneys
deposited in the Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund
each year shall be set aside and appropriated to the
Illinois Student Assistance Commission for nursing
scholarships awarded pursuant to the Nursing Education
Scholarship Law. For fiscal year 2024 and for each fiscal

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year thereafter, $6,000,000 of the moneys deposited in the
Nursing Dedicated and Professional Fund each year shall be
set aside and appropriated to the Illinois Student
Assistance Commission for nursing scholarships awarded
pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law.
(5) Moneys in the Fund may be transferred to the
Professions Indirect Cost Fund as authorized under Section
2105-300 of the Department of Professional Regulation Law
(20 ILCS 2105/2105-300).
(c) Moneys set aside for nursing scholarships awarded
pursuant to the Nursing Education Scholarship Law as provided
in item (4) of subsection (b) of this Section may not be
transferred under Section 8h of the State Finance Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)