Enacts into law major components of legislation which are necessary to implement the Education, Labor & Family Assistance Budget for the 2010-2011 state fiscal year

Part A - Amend the Education law to provide a one-year reduction in School Aid, adjust the planned phase-in of Foundation Aid, and make other changes necessary to implement the Enacted Budget.

This bill contains various provisions necessary for implementation of the education portion of the 2010-11 Executive Budget, including:

Federal Education Jobs Fund - This bill provides statutory authorization for school districts to access the $607 million Federal Education Jobs Fund. These funds can be used by school districts in the 2010-11 school year and after to avert teacher layoffs and as an additional offset to the Gap Elimination Adjustment.

Maintain Foundation Aid at Current levels - In order to provide necessary out year savings, this bill amend the Education Law to extend certain existing statutory provisions for two additional years - through 2011-12 - for Foundation Aid. Specifically, State support for Foundation Aid would be continued at current level.

Gap Elimination Adjustment - This bill amends the Education Law for the 2010-11 school year to provide a Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) formula consistent with the calculation already included in the Education, Labor, and Family Assistance Appropriation Bill (Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2010).

School District Charter School Payments - Consistent with limiting Foundation Aid to 2009-10 levels, this bill amends the Education Law to maintain payments made by school districts to charter schools at the current per pupil level. Chapter 57 of the laws of 2009 initiated a one-year freeze on these per pupil charter school payments. This would extend that freeze for one additional year.

Contract for Excellence - This bill amends the Education Law to modify Contract for Excellence requirements, in recognition of the fiscal circumstances facing the State and the suspension of increases in Foundation Aid. School districts currently in the program would be required to continue participation in the program with.a reduced financial liability unless all school buildings in a school district are reported as "In Good Standing" for purposes of the State accountability system. School districts that remain in the program would be required to maintain funding on existing Contract for Excellence programs less the percentage reduction of the Gap Elimination Adjustment.

Library Aid - This bill amends the Education Law to continue supplemental aid to public, school and research library systems in the 2010-11 fiscal year using the same formula as in 2009-10. The bill also continues to hold recipients of library aid harmless from reductions to aid they received in the 2001-02 fiscal year, except for the proportionate reduction needed to limit the State's obligation to the amount appropriated for the program.

Other Provisions - There are also several technical corrections, various extenders, including those to maintain compliance with multiple Federal laws and maintenance of effort requirements, as well as other minor changes that were included in the Article VII legislation and previously accepted by the Legislature.

Enactment of this bill is necessary to implement the 2010-11 Enacted Budget including out-year savings.

Part B - Amend the eligibility requirements for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) as it relates to students in default on certain student loans.

This bill modifies the award eligibility criteria for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to create parity in the treatment of students in default on New York State and Federal loans, regardless of guarantor. Under current law, students in default on loans guaranteed by the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) are ineligible for TAP awards, while students in default on other student loans remain eligible for TAP. This bill creates parity by eliminating TAP eligibility for all students who are in default on any New York State or Federal student loan, regardless of guarantor.

Enactment of this bill would achieve annual savings of $5.2 million.

Part C - Place married students with no children on a new TAP award schedule.

This bill places married students with no children on a new, less generous TAP award schedule. These students are currently placed on the dependent schedule and receive a more generous award, even though they have no children as their spouse is considered the dependent. Moving them to a schedule more closely related to the independent schedule would put these students more on par with their single adult classmates.

Enactment of this bill would achieve annual savings of $7.8 million.

Part D -Include all private pension and annuity income in TAP eligibility determinations.

This bill provides that the calculation of income for purposes of TAP shall include private pension income not otherwise subject to State taxation. The 2009-10 Budget required the inclusion of all public pension income for purposes of calculating TAP. Currently, for private pensioners age 59 1/2 and older the first $20,000 of pension income is excluded for purposes of calculating TAP. This bill conforms the treatment of private pension income with that of public pensions by requiring that pension income from any and all sources would be counted as income for the purposes of calculating TAP awards.

Enactment of this bill would achieve annual savings of $6.0 million.

Part E - Extend the Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarship and the Nursing Faculty Loan Forgiveness Incentive programs until 2015.

This bill extends the Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarship and the Nursing Faculty Loan Forgiveness Incentive programs until June 30, 2015. The Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarship and the Nursing Faculty Loan Forgiveness Incentive programs encourage students in New York to pursue degrees in nursing education leading to careers as nursing faculty. Authorization for these programs expired on June 30, 2010.

Enactment of this bill would result in $1.34 million in costs to fulfill prior obligations, and $2.4 million in additional costs annually.

Part F - Extend the Regents Physician Loan Forgiveness Program until the end of the 2010-11 school year.

This bill extends the Regents Physician Loan Forgiveness Program until the end of the 2010-11 school year, as well as restores new awards for the 2009-10 school year through retroactive payments. The Physician Loan Forgiveness Program encourages doctors in New York to advance their careers in medicine by serving in high needs areas throughout the State. This program was inadvertently allowed to sunset at the end of the 2008-09 school year. This bill extends this program by amending section 17 of Chapter 31 of the Laws of 1985 to retroactively award loan forgiveness awards in 2009-10 and sunset after awards are given for the 2010-11 school year.

Enactment of this bill would result in $1.54 million in costs to fulfill prior obligations, and $1.6 million in additional costs associated with the 2010-11 school year.

Part G - Provide Tuition Assistance Program awards to students attending certain institutions not under the State Education Department's direct supervision.

This bill provides TAP awards to students attending certain institutions that are currently not under the direct supervision of the New York State Education Department (SED). Under current law, there are income-eligible students who attend non-profit institutions of higher education that cannot receive TAP awards because their schools, although authorized by the State Education Department (SED) to offer post-secondary education, are not under SED's direct supervision. This bill amends the statutory prohibition against providing TAP to otherwise income-eligible students at certain specialized not-for-profit higher education institutions that are based in the State, accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and that have students who are eligible to receive Pell grants.

Enactment of this bill would result in additional costs of $18.3 million annually.

The provisions of this act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that the applicable effective date of each part of this act shall be as specifically set forth in the last section of such part.