[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2815 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2815

   To provide for a wage differential program to support new nursing 
                        school faculty members.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 14, 2023

  Mr. Durbin (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for a wage differential program to support new nursing 
                        school faculty members.

    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 ``Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. NURSE FACULTY GRANT PROGRAM.

    Section 846A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296n-1) is 
amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by adding ``and nursing faculty 
        grant program'' after ``loan program'';
            (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--To increase the number of qualified nursing 
faculty, the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health 
Resources and Services Administration, may--
            ``(1) enter into an agreement with any accredited school of 
        nursing for the establishment and operation of a student loan 
        fund in accordance with subsection (b); and
            ``(2) award nurse faculty grants in accordance with 
        subsection (c).'';
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by redesignating clauses (A) through (D) of 
                paragraph (2) as clauses (i) through (iv), 
                respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (5) as 
                subparagraphs (A) through (E), respectively, and 
                adjusting the margins accordingly;
                    (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``subsection 
                (c)'' and inserting ``paragraph (2)''; and
                    (D) by striking ``(b) Agreements--Each agreement 
                entered into under subsection (a) shall--'' and 
                inserting the following:
    ``(b) School of Nursing Student Loan Fund.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each agreement entered into under 
        subsection (a)(1) shall--'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsection (a)'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``subsection (a)(1)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by redesignating 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), 
                respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
                    (C) in paragraph (6), by redesignating 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), 
                respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 
                and
                    (D) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as 
                subparagraphs (A) through (F), respectively, and 
                adjusting the margins accordingly; and
                    (E) in subparagraph (F)(ii), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``subsection (e)'' and inserting ``paragraph 
                (4)'';
            (5) in subsection (e), by striking ``subsection (c)(6)(B)'' 
        and inserting ``paragraph (2)(F)(ii)'';
            (6) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) as 
        paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively, and adjusting the 
        margins accordingly; and
            (7) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Nurse Faculty Grant Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and carry 
        out a program described in subsection (a)(2) under which 
        eligible schools of nursing receive a grant for purposes of 
        supplementing the salaries to enhance recruitment and retention 
        of nursing faculty members.
            ``(2) Eligible entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
        under this subsection, an entity shall--
                    ``(A) be a school of nursing; and
                    ``(B) submit an application to the Secretary, at 
                such time, in such manner, and containing such 
                information as the Secretary may require, including--
                            ``(i)(I) to the extent such information is 
                        available to the school of nursing, the salary 
                        history of nursing faculty at such school who 
                        previously were nurses in clinical practice, 
                        for the most recent 3-year period ending on the 
                        date of application, adjusted for inflation as 
                        appropriate and broken down by credentials, 
                        experience, and levels of education of such 
                        nurses; or
                            ``(II) if the information described in 
                        subclause (I) is not available, information on 
                        the average local salary of nurses in clinical 
                        practice, adjusted for inflation as appropriate 
                        and broken down by credentials, experience, and 
                        levels of education of the individual nurses, 
                        in accordance with such requirements as the 
                        Secretary may specify;
                            ``(ii) an attestation of the average 
                        nursing faculty salary at the school of nursing 
                        during the most recent 3-year period prior to 
                        the date of application, adjusted for 
                        inflation, as appropriate, broken down by 
                        credentials, experience, and levels of 
                        education of such faculty members;
                            ``(iii) the number of nursing faculty 
                        member vacancies at the entity at the time of 
                        application, and the entity's projection of 
                        such vacancies over the ensuing 5-year period; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) a description of the entity's plans 
                        to identify funding sources to sustainably 
                        continue, after the 3-year grant period, the 
                        salary available to the eligible nursing 
                        faculty member pursuant to the program under 
                        this subsection during such grant program and 
                        to retain eligible nursing faculty members 
                        after the end of the grant period.
            ``(3) Awards.--A grant awarded under this subsection, with 
        respect to supporting eligible nursing faculty members, shall--
                    ``(A) be awarded to the school of nursing to 
                supplement the salaries of eligible faculty members at 
                the school of nursing, annually, for up to a 3-year 
                period, in an amount equal to, for each eligible 
                nursing faculty member at the eligible entity during 
                the grant period, the difference between--
                            ``(i) the average salary of nurses in 
                        clinical practice submitted under subclause (I) 
                        or (II) of paragraph (2)(B)(i); and
                            ``(ii) the greater of--
                                    ``(I) the salary for the eligible 
                                nursing faculty member at the school of 
                                nursing; or
                                    ``(II) the average nursing faculty 
                                salary submitted under paragraph 
                                (2)(B)(ii) for faculty members with the 
                                same or similar credentials and level 
                                of education;
                    ``(B) notwithstanding section 803(a), be used in 
                its entirety to supplement the eligible faculty 
                member's salary; and
                    ``(C) be conditioned upon the school of nursing 
                maintaining, for each year in which the award is made 
                as described in subparagraph (A), a salary for such 
                faculty member at a level that is not less than the 
                greater of the amount under subclause (I) or (II) of 
                subparagraph (A)(ii).
            ``(4) Priority.--In awarding grants under this subsection, 
        the Secretary shall ensure the equitable geographic 
        distribution of awards, and shall give priority to applications 
        from schools of nursing that demonstrate--
                    ``(A) the greatest need for such grant, which may 
                be based upon the financial circumstances of the school 
                of nursing, eligible nurse faculty members, the planned 
                number of students to be trained or admitted off a wait 
                list;
                    ``(B) training or partnerships to serve vulnerable 
                patient populations, such as through the location or 
                activity of a school in a health professional shortage 
                area;
                    ``(C) recruitment and retention of faculty from 
                underrepresented populations; or
                    ``(D) other particular need for such grant, 
                including public institutions of higher education that 
                offer 4-year degrees but at which the predominant 
                degree awarded is an associate degree.
            ``(5) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        precludes a school of nursing or an eligible nursing faculty 
        member receiving an award under this section from obtaining or 
        receiving any other form of Federal support or funding.
            ``(6) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act of 2023, 
        the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Finance and the 
        Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a report 
        that evaluates the program established under this subsection, 
        including--
                    ``(A) the impact of such program on recruitment and 
                retention rates of nursing faculty, as available, and 
                specifically for each faculty member participating in 
                the program; and
                    ``(B) recommendations and considerations for 
                Congress on continuing the program under this section 
                through the Medicare program under title XVIII of the 
                Social Security Act.
            ``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Eligible nursing faculty member.--The term 
                `eligible nursing faculty member' means a nursing 
                faculty member who--
                            ``(i) was hired by a school of nursing 
                        within the 2-year period preceding the 
                        submission of an application under paragraph 
                        (2), or a prospective nursing faculty member;
                            ``(ii) is currently employed at the school 
                        of nursing and who demonstrates the need for 
                        such support;
                            ``(iii) previously worked as a nurse in 
                        clinical practice or as a nurse faculty member 
                        at another school of nursing; or
                            ``(iv) may work on a part-time basis as a 
                        nursing faculty member, for whom such award 
                        amounts described in paragraph (3) shall be 
                        prorated relative to the amount of time 
                        participating in part-time teaching.
                    ``(B) Inflation.--The term `inflation' means the 
                Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (all 
                items; U.S. city average).
            ``(8) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
        subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated $28,500,000 
        for each of fiscal year 2024 through 2028.''.
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