[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 560 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

    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 ``Emergency Nurse Shortage Relief Act 
of 1993''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF ACTIVE NURSES.

    Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:

                      ``nurse recruitment programs

    ``Sec. 823. (a) In General.--The Secretary may make grants to 
public and nonprofit private entities to carry out programs--
            ``(1) to promote nursing as a career choice and to educate 
        the public regarding the value of the nursing profession;
            ``(2) to identify students in public secondary schools who 
        show an interest in health care and provide such students with 
        internships in the area of health care;
            ``(3) to promote the nursing profession in public secondary 
        schools; and
            ``(4) to recruit nursing students, by using creative 
        methods, from groups not traditionally well represented in the 
        nursing profession, including men, minorities, and individuals 
        who are pursuing a second career.
    ``(b) Application.--To receive a grant under this section, a public 
or private nonprofit entity shall submit an application to the 
Secretary as the Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 
Any amounts appropriated under this section shall remain available 
until expended.''.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO ATTRACT INACTIVE NURSES BACK INTO 
              NURSING PROFESSION.

    Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by section 2 of this Act, is 
further amended by adding at the end the following new section:

          ``inactive nurse reactivation and training programs

    ``Sec. 824. (a) In General.--The Secretary may make grants to 
public and private nonprofit entities and schools of nursing to 
establish or assist programs--
            ``(1) to encourage and assist nurses that are not 
        practicing in the nursing profession to reenter the profession;
            ``(2) to train or educate nurses that are reentering the 
        nursing profession and practicing nurses as nurse practitioners 
        or nurse midwives or in areas of needed specialized nursing 
        skills; and
            ``(3) to provide tuition assistance to students enrolled in 
        educational programs designed to facilitate the reentry into 
        the nursing profession of nurses that are not practicing in the 
        nursing profession.
    ``(b) Application.--To receive a grant under this section, a public 
or private nonprofit entity or a school of nursing shall submit an 
application to the Secretary as the Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 
Any amounts appropriated under this section shall remain available 
until expended.''.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO RETAIN PRACTICING NURSES.

    Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by sections 2 and 3 of this Act, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                 ``practicing nurse retention programs

    ``Sec. 825. (a) In General.--The Secretary may make grants to 
health care facilities to carry out programs--
            ``(1) to demonstrate the use of innovative methods to 
        increase the attractiveness to individuals of the nursing 
        profession as a career choice through changes in traditional 
        wage structures, flexible delivery and scheduling of employment 
        options and benefits, and restructuring the role of nurses in 
        the health care facilities; and
            ``(2) to demonstrate innovative methods of providing for 
        advancement in careers in the nursing profession to encourage 
        nurses and nurse assistants to continue education in nursing.
    ``(b) Application.--To receive a grant under this section, a health 
care facility shall submit an application to the Secretary as the 
Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Definition of Health Care Facility.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `health care facility' means a hospital, public 
health center, outpatient medical facility, rehabilitation facility, 
facility for long-term care, or other facility for the provision of 
health care services.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 
Any amounts appropriated under this section shall remain available 
until expended.''.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR LOANS FOR CONTINUED NURSE TRAINING AND LOAN 
              FORGIVENESS TO NURSING STUDENTS.

    Part B of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
297 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subpart:

 ``Subpart V--Assistance for Nurses After Completion of Nursing School

                  ``loans for continued nurse training

    ``Sec. 849. (a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary may 
establish a program to insure educational loans to individuals who have 
attained a degree as a registered nurse for educational expenses 
related to programs designed to train or educate nurses as nurse 
practitioners or nurse midwives or in areas of needed specialized 
nursing skills (as designated by the Secretary under section 
860(a)(2)).
    ``(b) Organization of Program.--With respect to the program of 
Insured Health Education Assistance Loans to Graduate Students 
established in subpart I of part A of title VII, the provisions of such 
subpart shall, except as inconsistent with this section, apply to the 
program established under subsection (a) in the same manner and to the 
same extent as such provisions apply to the program established in such 
subpart I.
    ``(c) Budget Compliance.--The authority of the Secretary to insure 
loans under this section shall be effective for any fiscal year only to 
such extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.

                   ``student loan forgiveness program

    ``Sec. 849A. (a) Establishment.--The Secretary may carry out a 
program to enter into agreements with eligible individuals to assist in 
repaying, in the amounts specified in subsection (c), the eligible 
educational loans of the eligible individuals.
    ``(b) Eligible Borrowers.--An individual shall be eligible to 
receive assistance under this section if the individual--
            ``(1)(A) is enrolled as a full-time student in a collegiate 
        school of nursing in a program leading to the achievement of a 
        degree as a registered nurse; and
            ``(B) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, to work 
        full time as a registered nurse in a nursing crisis area; or
            ``(2)(A) has attained a degree as a registered nurse;
            ``(B) is enrolled in a program designed to train or educate 
        the individual as a nurse practitioner or nurse midwife or 
        regarding an area of a needed specialized nursing skill; and
            ``(C) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, to work 
        full time after completion of the program as a registered nurse 
        in a nursing crisis area in a position that utilizes such 
        training or education.
    ``(c) Amount of Payments.--The program established by the Secretary 
under this section may pay to a holder of loans on behalf of an 
eligible individual, for each completed 12-month period of work as 
agreed to under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(C) of subsection (b), an amount 
equal to the amount equal to the percentage of the total of the 
principal, interest, and related expenses of such educational loans of 
the eligible individual determined in accordance with the following 
table:

      

                                                                                                                
       ``Years of work completed    Percentage of total of principal,       Cumulative percentage of total of   
        as agreed to as a full-     interest, and related expenses of        principal, interest, and related   
      time registered nurse in a     eligible loans repaid under this    expenses of eligible loans repaid under
          nursing crisis area      section for previous 12-month period                this section             
                                                                                                                
      1.........................  20...................................                     20                  
      2.........................  20...................................                     40                  
      3.........................  45...................................                     85                  
      4.........................  15...................................                    100                  
                                                                                                                

    ``(d) Definition of Eligible Educational Loans.--For purposes of 
this section the term `eligible educational loan' means--
            ``(1) for an individual eligible under subsection (b)(1), 
        any educational loans received before the attainment by the 
        individual of the position of registered nurse; and
            ``(2) for an individual eligible under subsection (b)(2), 
        any educational loans relating to the program in which the 
        individual participates pursuant to subparagraph (B) of such 
        subsection.
    ``(e) Budget Compliance.--The authority of the Secretary to enter 
into agreements under this section to repay loans shall be effective 
for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such amounts as are 
provided in appropriation Acts.''.

SEC. 6. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CORPORATIONS WHICH PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS 
              FOR NURSE TRAINING.

    (a) In General.--Subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to foreign tax credit, 
etc.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 
section:

``SEC. 30. SCHOLARSHIPS PROVIDED BY CORPORATIONS FOR NURSE TRAINING.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of a C corporation, there 
shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 
for the taxable year an amount equal to 20 percent of the amount paid 
or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year as qualified 
nursing scholarships.
    ``(b) Qualified Nursing Scholarship Defined.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `qualified nursing scholarship' means any 
scholarship--
            ``(1) which is excludable from the gross income of the 
        recipient, and
            ``(2) which is received by an individual who is a candidate 
        for a degree as a registered nurse or for a higher nursing 
        degree for purposes of pursuing such a degree.
    ``(c) Application With Other Credits.--The credit allowed by 
subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not exceed the excess (if 
any) of--
            ``(1) the regular tax for the taxable year reduced by the 
        sum of the credits allowable under subpart A and sections 27, 
        28, and 29, over
            ``(2) the tentative minimum tax for the taxable year.''
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such subpart B 
is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new item:

``Sec. 30. Scholarships provided by corporations for nurse training.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to amounts paid or incurred after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, in taxable years ending after such date.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as provided in section 6(c), this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act shall take effect upon the expiration of the 90-day 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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