NY State Senate Bill 2023-S766

Senate Bill S766

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to the New York state district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness program

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education 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 03, 2024	referred to higher education
Jan 06, 2023	referred to higher education

2023-S766 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A357
Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §679-e, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: A7841
2017-2018: A1927
2019-2020: A615
2021-2022: S6457, A1212

2023-S766 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the New York state district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness program; allows absence because of uniformed service, maternity/paternity, FMLA, or due to compensable injury to be creditable time.

2023-S766 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S766

SPONSOR: COONEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the New York state
district attorney and indigent legal services attorney loan forgiveness
program

 
PURPOSE:

This act will allow eligible attorneys to accrue credited time if they
have taken periods of leave without pay for certain circumstances.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would amend Section 679-e of the education law to allow peri-
ods of leave without pay to be counted towards credited time when such
periods are taken for purposes of military service, authorized
maternity/paternity leave, family and medical leave, or compensable
injury. The legislation shall apply retroactively to have been in effect
on January 1, 2010.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The New York state district attorney and indigent legal services loan
forgiveness program encourages and rewards the dedicated public service
of prosecutors and public defenders. These attorneys provide for the
maintenance of our judicial system, and they ensure the proper execution
of New York residents' fundamental rights.

Under current law, eligible attorneys do not receive credited time for
certain periods of leave without pay that are beyond their control such
as military service and injury. The federal John R. Justice Loan
Forgiveness Program does not permit eligible district attorneys and
public defenders to receive credited time except for the four reasons
outlined in this bill. State law provides no such exceptions for periods
of leave without pay. This legislation will bring state law into parity
with federal law.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22: S.6457

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been
in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2010.

2023-S766 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    766
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 6, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COONEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to  the  New  York  state
   district  attorney  and indigent legal services attorney loan forgive-
   ness program

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 679-e of the educa-
 tion  law,  as amended by section 1 of part VV of chapter 56 of the laws
 of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   b. "Eligible period" means the six-year period after completion of the
 third year and before the commencement of the tenth year  of  employment
 as  an  eligible  attorney. For purposes of this section, all periods of
 time during which an admitted  attorney  was  employed  as  an  eligible
 attorney  and  all  periods  of  time during which a law school graduate
 awaiting admission to the New York state bar was employed by a prosecut-
 ing or criminal defense agency as  permitted  by  section  four  hundred
 eighty-four  of  the judiciary law shall be combined.  A PERIOD OF LEAVE
 WITHOUT PAY, OR OTHER PERIODS WHICH AN ELIGIBLE ATTORNEY IS NOT IN A PAY
 STATUS SHALL NOT COUNT TOWARD THE COMPLETION OF REQUIRED SERVICE  PERIOD
 REEMPLOYMENT. THE SERVICE COMPLETION DATE SHALL BE EXTENDED BY THE TOTAL
 TIME  SPENT  IN  NON-PAY  STATUS.  HOWEVER, ABSENCE BECAUSE OF UNIFORMED
 SERVICE WITH A RECOGNIZED BRANCH OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY,  AUTHOR-
 IZED  MATERNITY/PATERNITY,  FMLA,  OR DUE TO COMPENSABLE INJURY SHALL BE
 CONSIDERED CREDITABLE, WITHIN THE  SOLE  DISCRETION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT,
 TOWARD THE REQUIRED SERVICE PERIOD UPON REEMPLOYMENT.
   §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2010.
 

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01578-01-3

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