Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.3297 | Sponsor: Rep. Crow, Jason (D-CO)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2021
This bill establishes a student loan repayment program for public health professionals. As a condition of participation, recipients must agree to complete a period of full-time employment with a state, tribal, or local public health agency.
Individuals eligible for this program include those with public health or health professions degrees, as well as those with degrees in statistics, computer science, or related information technology fields.

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Public Health 
                   Workforce Loan Repayment Program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Health Workforce Loan 
Repayment Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
254b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subpart:

                ``Subpart XIII--Public Health Workforce

``SEC. 340J. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program to be 
known as the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program (referred 
to in this section as the `Program') under which the Secretary awards 
loan repayment agreements described in subsection (c) to assure an 
adequate supply of and encourage recruitment of public health 
professionals to eliminate critical public health workforce shortages 
in local, State, and Tribal public health agencies.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to participate in the Program, 
an individual shall--
            ``(1)(A) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, as a 
        student in an accredited academic educational institution in a 
        State or territory in the final year of a course of study or 
        program leading to a public health degree, a health professions 
        degree, or a degree in computer science, information science, 
        information systems, information technology, or statistics and 
        have accepted employment with a local, State, or Tribal public 
        health agency, or a related training fellowship, as recognized 
        by the Secretary, to commence upon graduation; or
            ``(B)(i) have graduated, during the preceding 10-year 
        period, from an accredited educational institution in a State 
        or territory and received a public health degree, a health 
        professions degree, or degree in computer science, information 
        science, information systems, information technology, or 
        statistics; and
            ``(ii) be employed by, or have accepted employment with, a 
        local, State, or Tribal public health agency or a related 
        training fellowship, as recognized by the Secretary;
            ``(2) be a United States citizen;
            ``(3)(A) submit an application to the Secretary to 
        participate in the Program; and
            ``(B) execute a written contract as required in subsection 
        (c); and
            ``(4) not have received, for the same service, a reduction 
        of loan obligations under section 428K or 428L of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965.
    ``(c) Contract.--The written contract referred to in subsection 
(b)(3)(B) between the Secretary and an individual shall contain--
            ``(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary that the 
        Secretary will repay, on behalf of the individual, loans 
        incurred by the individual in the pursuit of the relevant 
        degree in accordance with the terms of the contract;
            ``(2) an agreement on the part of the individual that the 
        individual will serve in the full-time employment of a local, 
        State, or Tribal public health agency or a related fellowship 
        program in a position related to the course of study or program 
        for which the contract was awarded for a period of at least 3 
        consecutive years;
            ``(3) an agreement on the part of the individual to 
        relocate to a priority service area (as determined by the 
        Secretary) in exchange for an additional loan repayment 
        incentive amount to be determined by the Secretary;
            ``(4) a provision that any financial obligation of the 
        United States arising out of a contract entered into under this 
        section and any obligation of the individual that is 
        conditioned thereon, is contingent on funds being appropriated 
        for loan repayments under this section;
            ``(5) a statement of the damages to which the United States 
        is entitled, under this section for the individual's breach of 
        the contract; and
            ``(6) such other statements of the rights and liabilities 
        of the Secretary and of the individual as the Secretary 
        determines appropriate, not inconsistent with this section.
    ``(d) Payments.--
            ``(1) In general.--A loan repayment provided for an 
        individual under a written contract referred to in subsection 
        (b)(3)(B) shall consist of payment, in accordance with 
        paragraph (2), for the individual toward the outstanding 
        principal and interest on education loans incurred by the 
        individual in the pursuit of the relevant degree in accordance 
        with the terms of the contract.
            ``(2) Payments for years served.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For each year of service that an 
                individual contracts to serve pursuant to subsection 
                (c)(2), the Secretary may pay not more than $35,000 on 
                behalf of the individual for loans described in 
                paragraph (1). With respect to participants under the 
                Program whose total eligible loans are less than 
                $105,000, the Secretary shall pay an amount that does 
                not exceed \1/3\ of the eligible loan balance for each 
                year of such service of such individual.
                    ``(B) Considerations.--The Secretary may take 
                actions in making awards under this section to ensure 
                that--
                            ``(i) not less than 50 percent of such 
                        awards are awarded to individuals who, at the 
                        time of entering into a contract under 
                        subsection (c), are not employed by a local, 
                        State, or Tribal public health agency or a 
                        related training fellowship, as recognized by 
                        the Secretary; and
                            ``(ii) such awards are equitably 
                        distributed among--
                                    ``(I) the geographical regions of 
                                the United States; and
                                    ``(II) local, State, and Tribal 
                                public health agencies.
            ``(3) Tax liability.--For purposes of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986, a payment made under this section shall be 
        treated in the same manner as an amount received under section 
        338B(g), as described in section 108(f)(4) of such Code.
    ``(e) Postponing Obligated Service.--With respect to an individual 
with a contract to serve under subsection (c), the date of the 
initiation of the period of obligated service may be postponed or 
extended as approved by the Secretary.
    ``(f) Breach of Contract.--An individual who fails to comply with a 
contract entered into under subsection (c) shall be subject to the same 
financial penalties as provided for under section 338E for breaches of 
loan repayment contracts under section 338B.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Education loan.--The term `education loan' means--
                    ``(A) any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 
                part B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act 
                of 1965;
                    ``(B) any loan made under subpart II of part A of 
                title VII, or part E of title VIII, of this Act;
                    ``(C) a private education loan, as defined in 
                section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act; or
                    ``(D) any other loan funded, insured, or guaranteed 
                by any Federal agency that is not the Department of 
                Education that is issued directly to students.
            ``(2) Full-time.--The term `full-time', when used with 
        respect to employment, means employment--
                    ``(A) with a qualifying employer for not less than 
                30 hours per week; or
                    ``(B) with 2 or more qualifying employers for a 
                total of not less than 30 hours per week.
            ``(3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
            ``(2) $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 
        2026.''.
                                 <all>