Bill Text: NJ A2169 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires public service employer to certify employment of qualifying employees under federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program; requires Secretary of Higher Education to develop materials to promote Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A2169 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2169-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Dunn
SYNOPSIS
Requires public service employer to certify employment of qualifying employees under federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program; requires Secretary of Higher Education to develop materials to promote Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning certifying employment under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes and Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Certifying employment" means either completing the employer sections of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness form or sharing data
directly with the United States Department of Education that corresponds to the information required for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness form.
"Employee" means someone who works for a public service employer, regardless of whether the public service employer considers that work to be full-time or part-time, contingent, or contracted, and receives a Form W-2 from the employer.
"Full-time" for the purpose of certifying employment means working at least thirty hours per week or at least thirty hours per week
throughout a contractual or employment period of at least eight months in a twelve-month period, including but not limited to, elementary and secondary school teachers, except that if the United States Department of Education provides for a definition that means fewer hours per week, the department's definition shall apply.
"Public service employer" means any employer in the State who is designated as a qualifying employer under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program by the United States Department of Education, excluding any federal or tribal nation government organization, agency, or entity. This term shall include any State, county, city or other local government employer, including any office, department, independent agency, school district, public institution of higher education, public library system, authority, or other body, including the Legislature and the judiciary. This term shall also include any employer that has received designation as a tax-exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.
"Public Service Loan Forgiveness form" means the form used by the United States Department of Education to certify an individual's employment at a public service organization and determine eligibility for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
"Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Program" means the federal loan forgiveness program
established under the "College Cost Reduction and Access Act" (20 U.S.C. s.1087e).
2. a. For the purposes of certifying employment for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program for educator employees, a public service employer shall credit 3.35 hours worked for each hour of lecture or classroom time. The provisions of this subsection shall not supersede any greater adjustment factor established by a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy in recognition of additional work associated with lecture or classroom time for the purpose of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and shall have no other applicability for public service employers and their employees.
b. When determining whether an employee is considered full-time, for the purpose of certifying employment for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program only, a public service employer shall not treat any adjusted total hours worked pursuant to this section differently from hours worked without an adjustment factor.
c. For the purpose of certifying employment only, a public service employer shall consider as full-time any employee who satisfies the definition of full-time pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
3. a. In the event that the United States Department of Education permits public service employers to certify employment for past or present individual employees or groups of employees directly with the department or its agents, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public service employer shall be permitted to send to the department or its agents the information necessary for employment certification.
b. In the event that a public service employer does not directly certify employment with the United States Department of Education pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the public service employer shall provide notice of renewal and a copy of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness form with the employer information and employment certification sections of the form already completed to:
(1) any employee who requests a Public Service Loan Forgiveness form;
(2) annually for any current employee for whom the public service employer has previously certified employment; and
(3) upon separation for any employee who is ending his or her work with the public service employer.
The partially completed form shall reflect employment for the prior calendar year, and may reflect longer periods of employment, as necessary.
c. Nothing in this section shall prevent a public service employer
from seeking permission from its employees prior to certifying their
employment.
4. a. The Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the Student Loan Ombudsman designated within the Department of Banking and Insurance pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2019, c.200 (C.17:16ZZ-2), shall develop, and update as necessary, materials designed to promote and increase awareness of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The materials shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) a standardized letter for public service employers to distribute to their employees that briefly summarizes the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, provides information about what eligible employees are required to do in order to benefit from the program, and recommends that eligible employees contact their student loan servicer for additional resources;
(2) a detailed fact sheet describing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, including the official website addresses maintained by the United State Department of Education for the program and by the United States Department of the Treasury for student loan borrower resources; and
(3) a document containing frequently asked questions about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
b. The secretary shall coordinate with other State departments, agencies, and offices as necessary to make the materials available to public service employers as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
c. Each public service employer shall annually provide to all employees the most recent available version of the materials required pursuant to subsection a. of this section in written or electronic form.
In addition to those materials, a Public Service Employer shall provide a newly hired employee with those same materials within 30 days of the employee's first day of employment by mail, by electronic mail, or during an in-person new employee orientation.
5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a public service employer to certify the employment of qualifying employees under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. For the purposes of certifying employment for educator employees, the employer is required to credit 3.35 hours worked for each hour of lecture or classroom time. Under the bill, this credit does not supersede any greater adjustment factor established by a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy in recognition of additional work associated with lecture or classroom time for the purpose of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
The bill also provides that, in the event that the United States Department of Education permits public service employers to certify employment for past or present individual employees or groups of employees directly with the department or its agents, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public service employer is permitted to send to the department or its agents the information necessary for employment certification.
Under the bill, in the event that a public service employer does not directly certify employment with the United States Department of Education, the public service employer is required to provide notice of renewal and a copy of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness form with the employer information and employment certification sections of the form already completed to:
· any employee who requests a Public Service Loan Forgiveness form;
· annually for any current employee for whom the public service employer has previously certified employment; and
· upon separation for any employee who is ending his or her work with the public service employer.
The bill also requires the Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the Student Loan Ombudsman designated within the Department of Banking and Insurance, to develop, and update as necessary, materials designed to promote and increase awareness of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, including:
· a standardized letter for public service employers to distribute to their employees that briefly summarizes the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, provides information about what eligible employees are required to do in order to benefit from the program, and recommends that eligible employees contact their student loan servicer for additional resources;
· a detailed fact sheet describing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, including the official website addresses maintained by the United State Department of Education for the program and by the United States Department of the Treasury for student loan borrower resources; and
· a document containing frequently asked questions about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Under the bill, each public service employer is required to annually provide to all employees the most recent available version of those materials in written or electronic form. Each public service employer is required to provide a newly hired employee with those same materials within 30 days of the employee's first day of employment by mail, by electronic mail, or during an in-person new employee orientation.
