I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 560

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish programs to increase

the supply of professional nurses and provide educational assistance

to nurses, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 25, 1993

Mr. ACKERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish programs to increase the supply of professional nurses and

provide educational assistance to nurses, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Nurse

5 Shortage Relief Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF

2 ACTIVE NURSES.

3 Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.) is amended by adding

5 at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘NURSE RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS

7 ‘‘SEC. 823. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

8 make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to

9 carry out programs—

10 ‘‘(1) to promote nursing as a career choice and

11 to educate the public regarding the value of the

12 nursing profession;

13 ‘‘(2) to identify students in public secondary

14 schools who show an interest in health care and pro15 vide such students with internships in the area of

16 health care;

17 ‘‘(3) to promote the nursing profession in public

18 secondary schools; and

19 ‘‘(4) to recruit nursing students, by using cre20 ative methods, from groups not traditionally well

21 represented in the nursing profession, including

22 men, minorities, and individuals who are pursuing a

23 second career.

24 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this

25 section, a public or private nonprofit entity shall submit
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1 an application to the Secretary as the Secretary may re2 quire.

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

5 necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro6 priated under this section shall remain available until ex7 pended.’’.

8 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO ATTRACT INACTIVE

9 NURSES BACK INTO NURSING PROFESSION.

10 Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health

11 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by sec12 tion 2 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the

13 end the following new section:

14 ‘‘INACTIVE NURSE REACTIVATION AND TRAINING

15 PROGRAMS

16 ‘‘SEC. 824. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

17 make grants to public and private nonprofit entities and

18 schools of nursing to establish or assist programs—

19 ‘‘(1) to encourage and assist nurses that are

20 not practicing in the nursing profession to reenter

21 the profession;

22 ‘‘(2) to train or educate nurses that are reen23 tering the nursing profession and practicing nurses

24 as nurse practitioners or nurse midwives or in areas

25 of needed specialized nursing skills; and
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1 ‘‘(3) to provide tuition assistance to students

2 enrolled in educational programs designed to facili3 tate the reentry into the nursing profession of

4 nurses that are not practicing in the nursing profes5 sion.

6 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this

7 section, a public or private nonprofit entity or a school

8 of nursing shall submit an application to the Secretary as

9 the Secretary may require.

10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

12 necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro13 priated under this section shall remain available until ex14 pended.’’.

15 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO RETAIN PRACTICING

16 NURSES.

17 Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health

18 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by sec19 tions 2 and 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding

20 at the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘PRACTICING NURSE RETENTION PROGRAMS

22 ‘‘SEC. 825. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

23 make grants to health care facilities to carry out pro24 grams—

25 ‘‘(1) to demonstrate the use of innovative meth26 ods to increase the attractiveness to individuals of
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1 the nursing profession as a career choice through

2 changes in traditional wage structures, flexible deliv3 ery and scheduling of employment options and bene4 fits, and restructuring the role of nurses in the

5 health care facilities; and

6 ‘‘(2) to demonstrate innovative methods of pro7 viding for advancement in careers in the nursing

8 profession to encourage nurses and nurse assistants

9 to continue education in nursing.

10 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this

11 section, a health care facility shall submit an application

12 to the Secretary as the Secretary may require.

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF HEALTH CARE FACILITY.—For

14 purposes of this section, the term ‘health care facility’

15 means a hospital, public health center, outpatient medical

16 facility, rehabilitation facility, facility for long-term care,

17 or other facility for the provision of health care services.

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

20 necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro21 priated under this section shall remain available until ex22 pended.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR LOANS FOR CONTINUED NURSE

2 TRAINING AND LOAN FORGIVENESS TO

3 NURSING STUDENTS.

4 Part B of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 297 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new subpart:

7 ‘‘Subpart V—Assistance for Nurses After Completion of

8 Nursing School

9 ‘‘LOANS FOR CONTINUED NURSE TRAINING

10 ‘‘SEC. 849. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The

11 Secretary may establish a program to insure educational

12 loans to individuals who have attained a degree as a reg13 istered nurse for educational expenses related to programs

14 designed to train or educate nurses as nurse practitioners

15 or nurse midwives or in areas of needed specialized nurs16 ing skills (as designated by the Secretary under section

17 860(a)(2)).

18 ‘‘(b) ORGANIZATION OF PROGRAM.—With respect to

19 the program of Insured Health Education Assistance

20 Loans to Graduate Students established in subpart I of

21 part A of title VII, the provisions of such subpart shall,

22 except as inconsistent with this section, apply to the pro23 gram established under subsection (a) in the same manner

24 and to the same extent as such provisions apply to the

25 program established in such subpart I.
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1 ‘‘(c) BUDGET COMPLIANCE.—The authority of the

2 Secretary to insure loans under this section shall be effec3 tive for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such

4 amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.

5 ‘‘STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM

6 ‘‘SEC. 849A. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary

7 may carry out a program to enter into agreements with

8 eligible individuals to assist in repaying, in the amounts

9 specified in subsection (c), the eligible educational loans

10 of the eligible individuals.

11 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE BORROWERS.—An individual shall be

12 eligible to receive assistance under this section if the indi13 vidual—

14 ‘‘(1)(A) is enrolled as a full-time student in a

15 collegiate school of nursing in a program leading to

16 the achievement of a degree as a registered nurse;

17 and

18 ‘‘(B) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Sec19 retary, to work full time as a registered nurse in a

20 nursing crisis area; or

21 ‘‘(2)(A) has attained a degree as a registered

22 nurse;

23 ‘‘(B) is enrolled in a program designed to train

24 or educate the individual as a nurse practitioner or

25 nurse midwife or regarding an area of a needed spe26 cialized nursing skill; and
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1 ‘‘(C) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Sec2 retary, to work full time after completion of the pro3 gram as a registered nurse in a nursing crisis area

4 in a position that utilizes such training or education.

5 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—The program estab6 lished by the Secretary under this section may pay to a

7 holder of loans on behalf of an eligible individual, for each

8 completed 12-month period of work as agreed to under

9 paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(C) of subsection (b), an amount

10 equal to the amount equal to the percentage of the total

11 of the principal, interest, and related expenses of such

12 educational loans of the eligible individual determined in

13 accordance with the following table:

‘‘Years of work completed

as agreed to as a full-time

registered nurse in a nursing crisis area

Percentage of total of principal,

interest, and related expenses of

eligible loans repaid under this

section for previous 12-month period

Cumulative percentage of total of

principal, interest, and related expenses of eligible loans repaid

under this section

1 ....................................... 20 ................................................ 20

2 ....................................... 20 ................................................ 40

3 ....................................... 45 ................................................ 85

4 ....................................... 15 ................................................ 100

14 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE EDUCATIONAL

15 LOANS.—For purposes of this section the term ‘eligible

16 educational loan’ means—

17 ‘‘(1) for an individual eligible under subsection

18 (b)(1), any educational loans received before the at19 tainment by the individual of the position of reg20 istered nurse; and
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1 ‘‘(2) for an individual eligible under subsection

2 (b)(2), any educational loans relating to the program

3 in which the individual participates pursuant to sub4 paragraph (B) of such subsection.

5 ‘‘(e) BUDGET COMPLIANCE.—The authority of the

6 Secretary to enter into agreements under this section to

7 repay loans shall be effective for any fiscal year only to

8 such extent or in such amounts as are provided in appro9 priation Acts.’’.

10 SEC. 6. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CORPORATIONS WHICH

11 PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR NURSE TRAIN12 ING.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub14 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

15 1986 (relating to foreign tax credit, etc.) is amended by

16 adding at the end thereof the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 30. SCHOLARSHIPS PROVIDED BY CORPORATIONS

18 FOR NURSE TRAINING.

19 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of a C

20 corporation, there shall be allowed as a credit against the

21 tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an

22 amount equal to 20 percent of the amount paid or in23 curred by the taxpayer during the taxable year as qualified

24 nursing scholarships.
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1 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED NURSING SCHOLARSHIP DE2 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified

3 nursing scholarship’ means any scholarship—

4 ‘‘(1) which is excludable from the gross income

5 of the recipient, and

6 ‘‘(2) which is received by an individual who is

7 a candidate for a degree as a registered nurse or for

8 a higher nursing degree for purposes of pursuing

9 such a degree.

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The

11 credit allowed by subsection (a) for any taxable year shall

12 not exceed the excess (if any) of—

13 ‘‘(1) the regular tax for the taxable year re14 duced by the sum of the credits allowable under sub15 part A and sections 27, 28, and 29, over

16 ‘‘(2) the tentative minimum tax for the taxable

17 year.’’

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

19 for such subpart B is amended by adding at the end there20 of the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 30. Scholarships provided by corporations for nurse training.’’

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

22 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years

24 ending after such date.
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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 Except as provided in section 6(c), this Act and the

3 amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon the

4 expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of

5 the enactment of this Act.

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