NY State Senate Bill 2021-S7665

Senate Bill S7665

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to creating the New York state private not-for-profit special education schools revolving loan fund; appropriation

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to finance

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2021-S7665 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Appropriations
Laws Affected:: Add §4409, Ed L

2021-S7665 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Creates the New York state private not-for-profit special education schools revolving loan fund to provide zero interest loans to private not-for-profit special education schools in NYC to cover a portion of tuition costs for up to two years; appropriates two hundred million dollars.

2021-S7665 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7665

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to creating the New York
state private not-for-profit special education schools revolving loan
fund; and making an appropriation therefor

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::

This bill will ensure that nonprofit special education private schools
have sufficient operating income while they wait for private placement
tuition payments from the New York City Department of Education.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::

Section 1 establishes the revolving loan fund for private not-for-profit
special education schools in cities with a population of one million or
more.

Section 2 appropriates $200 million to the fund. Section 3 states the

effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION::

The New York City Department of Education covers the tuition cost of
private school placements for children with special needs. The legal
process for deciding parental claims can take up to two years before a
tuition check is issued to the school. Schools serving children with
severe autism have to cover the cost of tuition to fulfill the legal
requirements of the child's education plan while the school waits for a
tuition payment from the NYC-DOE. To ensure the schools have adequate
operating income to maintain acceptable standards, a zero interest
revolving loan fund will be established.  The loan fund will remove a
financial barrier to enrollment for low to moderate income families with
a special needs child.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

This act shall take effect immediately

2021-S7665 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7665
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 5, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the New York
   state private not-for-profit special education schools revolving  loan
   fund; and making an appropriation therefor
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new  section  4409
 to read as follows:
   §  4409. REVOLVING LOAN FUND FOR PRIVATE NOT-FOR-PROFIT SPECIAL EDUCA-
 TION SCHOOLS IN CITIES WITH A POPULATION OF  ONE  MILLION  OR  MORE.  1.
 THERE  IS  HEREBY  ESTABLISHED  A FUND TO BE KNOWN AS THE NEW YORK STATE
 PRIVATE NOT-FOR-PROFIT SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS  REVOLVING  LOAN  FUND.
 SUCH  FUND  SHALL CONSIST OF MONEYS MADE AVAILABLE PURSUANT TO APPROPRI-
 ATION AND ANY OTHER SOURCES IN ORDER TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO PRIVATE  NOT-
 FOR-PROFIT SCHOOLS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS OF SCHOOL AGE APPROVED
 PURSUANT  TO  SECTION  FORTY-FOUR HUNDRED FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE. THE FUND
 SHALL BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT;  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT  THE
 COMMISSIONER MAY ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH A BANK OR TRUST COMPANY TO
 ADMINISTER LOANS UNDER THIS SECTION.
   2.  (A)  LOANS  UNDER  THIS  SECTION SHALL BE INTEREST FREE, EXCEPT AS
 OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS SUBDIVISION.  A SCHOOL SHALL  BE  ALLOWED  TO
 SUBMIT  ONE LOAN REQUEST APPLICATION EVERY TWO YEARS. THE LENDING PERIOD
 SHALL BE A MAXIMUM OF TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS. A SCHOOL SHALL SUBMIT  TO  THE
 DEPARTMENT  A LOAN REPAYMENT SCHEDULE DETAILING HOW THE FULL AMOUNT WILL
 BE REPAID WITHIN THE FINAL NINETY DAYS OF  THE  TWENTY-FOUR  MONTH  LOAN
 PERIOD AND COMPLETE ALL PAYMENTS AS PER THAT SCHEDULE. IF A SCHOOL FAILS
 TO  COMPLY  WITH SUCH SCHEDULE IT WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY NEW FUNDING UNTIL
 THE LOAN IS FULLY REPAID. AN INTEREST RATE  OF  SIX  PERCENT  PER  ANNUM
 SHALL BE CHARGED FOR EACH MONTH THAT A LOAN PAYMENT IS IN ARREARS.
   (B) ALL NEW LOAN REQUEST APPLICATIONS SHALL BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN
 THE  LAST  DAY  OF  THE TWENTY-FIRST MONTH IN THE TWENTY-FOUR MONTH LOAN
 PERIOD. THE COMPTROLLER SHALL DETERMINE IF AVAILABLE FUNDS  CAN  SATISFY
 THE  LOAN  REQUESTS  OF  ALL  SUCH ELIGIBLE APPLICATIONS BY THE FIRST OF
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD11685-09-1
 S. 7665                             2

 AUGUST OF THAT YEAR. IF IT IS DETERMINED  THAT  AVAILABLE  FUNDS  CANNOT
 SATISFY  ALL  ELIGIBLE  LOAN  REQUEST APPLICATIONS, EACH ELIGIBLE SCHOOL
 SHALL BE ASSIGNED AN AMOUNT REDUCED  PROPORTIONALLY.  EACH  SCHOOL  THAT
 APPLIED  SHALL  BE  NOTIFIED  OF THEIR ELIGIBILITY AND THE DOLLAR AMOUNT
 AVAILABLE TO THEM BY AUGUST TWENTIETH OF THAT YEAR.
   3. A PRIVATE NOT-FOR-PROFIT SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL  SHALL  MEET  THE
 FOLLOWING  REQUIREMENTS  TO  BE ELIGIBLE TO BE APPROVED FOR A LOAN UNDER
 THIS SECTION:
   (A) A SCHOOL SHALL BE INCORPORATED IN NEW YORK STATE.
   (B) A SCHOOL MUST HAVE  A  CURRENT  ENROLLMENT  WITH  AT  LEAST  FIFTY
 PERCENT  OF STUDENTS HAVING AN INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP) AS
 DEFINED IN 20 U.S.C. § 1414(D).
   4. THE LOAN AMOUNT TO A SCHOOL SHALL BE LIMITED TO A  MAXIMUM  OF  ONE
 HUNDRED  PERCENT  OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF PENDING TUITION PAYMENTS IN THE
 PRIOR YEAR PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OF  SECTION  FORTY-FOUR  HUNDRED
 FOUR  OF THIS ARTICLE AND THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AGREED
 TUITION SETTLEMENT OFFERS IN THE PRIOR YEAR.
   5. FOR A PENDING PAYMENT OR SCHOOL DISTRICT AGREED TUITION  SETTLEMENT
 OFFER TO QUALIFY FOR INCLUSION IN THE LOAN AMOUNT CALCULATION:
   (A)  THE  PRIVATE  NOT-FOR-PROFIT  SPECIAL  EDUCATION SCHOOL MUST HAVE
 ACCEPTED THE STUDENT WITHOUT COLLECTING ANY  TUITION  FROM  THE  PARENTS
 WITH  THE  INTENT  OF  SEEKING  A TUITION SETTLEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION
 FORTY-FOUR HUNDRED FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE. A  REFUNDABLE  DEPOSIT  IS  NOT
 CONSIDERED TUITION; AND
   (B)  THE PAYMENT MUST BE ON BEHALF OF A STUDENT WITH AN IEP AS DEFINED
 IN 20 U.S.C. § 1414(D).
   6. THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SETTLEMENT OFFER OR HEARING  DECISION  FOR  ONE
 YEAR OF TUITION MUST BE FOR A MINIMUM OF FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
   § 2. The sum of two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000), or so much
 thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  is hereby appropriated to the New York
 state private not-for-profit special education  schools  revolving  loan
 fund and made immediately available, for the purpose of carrying out the
 provisions of this act.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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