[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3506 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3506
To strengthen the public health workforce loan repayment program, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 13 (legislative day, January 10), 2022
Ms. Smith (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Booker, 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 strengthen the public health workforce loan repayment program, 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 ``Strengthening the Public Health
Workforce Act''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.
Section 776 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295f-1) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``supply of'' and inserting
``supply of, and encourage recruitment and retention
of,''; and
(B) by striking ``Federal,'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read as
follows:
``(1)(A)(i) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, as
a student in an accredited institution of higher education or
school of public health in the final semester (or equivalent)
of a program leading to a certificate or degree, including a
master's or doctoral degree, in public health, epidemiology,
laboratory sciences, data systems, data science, data
analytics, informatics, statistics, or other subject matter
related to public health; and
``(ii) be employed by or have accepted employment with a
State, local, or Tribal public health agency, or a related
training fellowship at such State, local, or Tribal public
health agency, as recognized by the Secretary, to commence upon
graduation; or''; and
(B) in paragraph (1)(B)--
(i) in clause (i)--
(I) by striking ``accredited
educational institution in a State or
territory'' and inserting ``accredited
institution of higher education or
school of public health''; and
(II) by striking ``a public health
or health professions degree or
certificate'' and inserting ``a
certificate or degree, including a
master's or doctoral degree, in public
health, epidemiology, laboratory
sciences, data systems, data science,
data analytics, informatics,
statistics, or other subject matter
related to public health''; and
(ii) in clause (ii)--
(I) by striking ``Federal,''; and
(II) by striking ``fellowship,''
and inserting ``fellowship at such
State, local, or Tribal public health
agency,'';
(3) in subsection (c)(2)--
(A) by striking ``Federal,''; and
(B) by striking ``equal to the greater of--'' and
all that follows through the end of subparagraph (B)
and inserting ``of at least 2 consecutive years;'';
(4) in subsection (d)--
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) In general.--A loan repayment provided for an
individual under a written contract under the Program shall
consist of payment, in accordance with paragraph (2), for the
individual toward the outstanding principal and interest on
education loans incurred by the individual in the pursuit of
the relevant degree or certificate described in subsection
(b)(1) in accordance with the terms of the contract.''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``For each year'' and
inserting the following:
``(A) In general.--For each year'';
(ii) by striking ``$35,000'' and inserting
``$50,000'';
(iii) by striking ``$105,000'' and
inserting ``$150,000''; and
(iv) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Considerations.--The Secretary may take
action in making awards under this section to ensure
that--
``(i) an appropriate proportion of
contracts are awarded to individuals who are
eligible to participate in the Program pursuant
to subsection (b)(1)(A); and
``(ii) contracts awarded under this section
are equitably distributed among--
``(I) the geographical regions of
the United States;
``(II) local, State, and Tribal
public health departments; and
``(III) such public health
departments under subclause (II)
serving rural and urban areas.'';
(5) in subsection (e), by striking ``receiving a degree or
certificate from a health professions or other related school''
and inserting ``with a contract to serve under subsection
(c)'';
(6) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following:
``In the event that a participant fails to either begin or
complete the obligated service requirement of the loan
repayment contract under this section, the Secretary may waive
or suspend either the unfulfilled service or the assessed
damages as provided for under section 338E(d), as
appropriate.'';
(7) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h);
(8) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
``(g) Eligible Loans.--The loans eligible for repayment under this
section are each of the following:
``(1) Any loan for education or training for employment by
a health department.
``(2) Any loan under part E of title VIII (relating to
nursing student loans).
``(3) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Direct PLUS
Loan, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or Federal
Direct Consolidation Loan (as such terms are used in section
455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965).
``(4) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E of title I of
the Higher Education Act of 1965.
``(5) Any other Federal loan, as the Secretary determines
appropriate.'';
(9) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by striking
``$195,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be
necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015'' and
inserting ``such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal
years 2023 through 2025''; and
(10) by striking ``tribal'' each place such term appears
and inserting ``Tribal''.
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) conduct an evaluation of what is known about the public
health workforce in the United States during the COVID-19
pandemic, which shall address--
(A) existing gaps in the Federal, State, local,
Tribal, and territorial public health workforce,
including positions that may be required to prevent,
prepare for, and respond to, a public health emergency
such as COVID-19;
(B) challenges associated with the hiring,
recruitment, and retention of the Federal, State,
local, Tribal, and territorial public health workforce;
and
(C) recommended steps to improve hiring,
recruitment, and retention of the public health
workforce; and
(2) submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives a report on such
review.
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