130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 119
H.P. 85 House of Representatives, January 13, 2021
An Act To Increase Faculty in Nursing Education Programs by
Amending the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 11, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2
and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MEYER of Eliot.
Cosponsored by Senator BRENNER of Cumberland and
Representatives: GEIGER of Rockland, PERRY of Calais.
Printed on recycled paper
 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2 Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1019, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 417, §1, is amended to
3 read:
4 2. Criteria. For an applicant to participate in the nursing education loan repayment
5 program established under subsection 1, the applicant must:
6 A. Be a nurse;
7 B. Complete Be currently enrolled in a master's or doctoral degree program in nursing
8 or have completed a master's or doctoral degree in nursing;
9 C. Possess an outstanding education loan relating to the master's or doctoral nursing
10 degree; and
11 D. Sign a statement of intent in a form acceptable to the authority to work as full-time
12 nursing faculty in a nursing education program in the State for a minimum of 3 5 years
13 after acceptance into the nursing education loan repayment program.
14 Sec. 2. 10 MRSA §1019, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 417, §1, is amended to
15 read:
16 4. Administration. The nursing education loan repayment program and the nursing
17 education loan repayment fund are administered by the authority. The authority shall repay
18 the loan of an applicant who meets the criteria in subsection 2 in the amount of up to $4,500
19 $30,000 for a master's degree and up to $6,000 $60,000 for a doctoral degree. The authority
20 may adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this subchapter. Rules adopted pursuant to
21 this subsection are major substantive rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
22 SUMMARY
23 This bill amends the nursing education loan repayment program as follows.
24 1. It extends eligibility to apply to individuals who are currently enrolled in master's
25 or doctoral degree programs.
26 2. It specifies that applicants must indicate an intention to work as full-time nursing
27 faculty in a nursing education program in the State, and increases that required commitment
28 from 3 years to 5 years after acceptance into the nursing education loan repayment program.
29 3. It increases the maximum amount of loans eligible for repayment under the program
30 from $4,500 to $30,000 for a master's degree and from $6,000 to $60,000 for a doctoral
31 degree.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 119, HP 85: 10.1019