240.4075  Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.--

(1)  To encourage qualified personnel to seek employment in areas of this state in which critical nursing shortages exist, there is established the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program. The primary function of the program is to increase employment and retention of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in nursing homes and hospitals in the state and in state-operated medical and health care facilities, birth centers, federally sponsored community health centers and teaching hospitals by making repayments toward loans received by students from federal or state programs or commercial lending institutions for the support of postsecondary study in accredited or approved nursing programs.

(2)  To be eligible, a candidate must have graduated from an accredited or approved nursing program and have received a Florida license as a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse or a Florida certificate as an advanced registered nurse practitioner.

(3)  Only loans to pay the costs of tuition, books, and living expenses shall be covered, at an amount not to exceed $4,000 for each year of education towards the degree obtained.

(4)  Receipt of funds pursuant to this program shall be contingent upon continued proof of employment in the designated facilities in this state. Loan principal payments shall be made by the Department of Education directly to the federal or state programs or commercial lending institutions holding the loan as follows:

(a)  Twenty-five percent of the loan principal and accrued interest shall be retired after the first year of nursing;

(b)  Fifty percent of the loan principal and accrued interest shall be retired after the second year of nursing;

(c)  Seventy-five percent of the loan principal and accrued interest shall be retired after the third year of nursing; and

(d)  The remaining loan principal and accrued interest shall be retired after the fourth year of nursing.

In no case may payment for any nurse exceed $4,000 in any 12-month period.

(5)  There is created the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund to be administered by the Department of Education pursuant to this section and s. 240.4076 and department rules. The Comptroller shall authorize expenditures from the trust fund upon receipt of vouchers approved by the Department of Education. All moneys collected from the private health care industry and other private sources for the purposes of this section shall be deposited into the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund. Any balance in the trust fund at the end of any fiscal year shall remain therein and shall be available for carrying out the purposes of this section and s. 240.4076.

(6)  In addition to licensing fees imposed under chapter 464, there is hereby levied and imposed an additional fee of $5, which fee shall be paid upon licensure or renewal of nursing licensure. Revenues collected from the fee imposed in this subsection shall be deposited in the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund of the Department of Education and will be used solely for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section and s. 240.4076. Up to 50 percent of the revenues appropriated to implement this subsection may be used for the nursing scholarship program established pursuant to s. 240.4076.

(7)(a)  Funds contained in the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund which are to be used for loan forgiveness for those nurses employed by hospitals, birth centers, and nursing homes must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by contributions from the employing institutions, except that this provision shall not apply to state-operated medical and health care facilities, county health departments, federally sponsored community health centers, or teaching hospitals as defined in s. 408.07.

(b)  All Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund moneys shall be invested pursuant to s. 18.125. Interest income accruing to that portion of the trust fund not matched shall increase the total funds available for loan forgiveness and scholarships. Pledged contributions shall not be eligible for matching prior to the actual collection of the total private contribution for the year.

(8)  The Department of Education may solicit technical assistance relating to the conduct of this program from the Department of Health.

(9)  The Department of Education is authorized to recover from the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Trust Fund its costs for administering the Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.

(10)  The Department of Education may adopt rules necessary to administer this program.

(11)  This section shall be implemented only as specifically funded.