[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3655 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3655
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Substance Use
Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce
Scholarship Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 29, 2025
Ms. Salinas (for herself, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Tonko, and Ms.
Brownley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Substance Use
Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce
Scholarship 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 ``STAR Plus Scholarship Act''.
SEC. 2. SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT AND BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL
HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Part F of title VII of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 295h) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 782. SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT AND BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL
HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (in
this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall establish the
Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health
Workforce Scholarship Program (in this section referred to as the
`Scholarship Program') to award scholarships to assure an adequate
supply of individuals in covered employment.
``(b) Eligibility; Application; Written Contract.--To be eligible
to participate in the Scholarship Program, an individual must--
``(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, as a
full-time student--
``(A) in an accredited (as determined by the
Secretary) educational institution in a State; and
``(B) in a course of study or program, offered by
such institution and approved by the Secretary, leading
to covered employment;
``(2) submit an application to participate in the
Scholarship Program; and
``(3) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the time of
submittal of such application, a written contract (described in
subsection (f)) to accept payment of a scholarship and to serve
(in accordance with this section) for the applicable period of
obligated service in a mental health professional shortage
area.
``(c) Review and Evaluation of Information and Forms by Prospective
Applicant.--
``(1) Contents of application and contract forms.--In
disseminating application forms and contract forms to
individuals desiring to participate in the Scholarship Program,
the Secretary shall include with such forms--
``(A) a fair summary of the rights and liabilities
of an individual whose application is approved (and
whose contract is accepted) by the Secretary, including
in the summary a clear explanation of the damages to
which the United States is entitled under subsection
(j) in the case of the individual's breach of the
contract; and
``(B) such other information as may be necessary
for the individual to understand the individual's
prospective participation in the Scholarship Program,
including a statement of all factors considered in
approving applications for participation in the
Scholarship Program and in approving specific positions
and employers that are eligible for the Scholarship
Program.
``(2) Clarity; availability.--The application form,
contract form, and all other information furnished by the
Secretary under this section shall be written in a manner
calculated to be understood by the average individual applying
to participate in the Scholarship Program. The Secretary shall
make such application forms, contract forms, and other
information available to individuals desiring to participate in
the Scholarship Program on a date sufficiently early to ensure
that such individuals have adequate time to carefully review
and evaluate such forms and information.
``(3) Education and assistance.--
``(A) Distribution of informational materials.--The
Secretary shall distribute to health professions
schools materials providing information on the
Scholarship Program and shall encourage the schools to
disseminate the materials to the students of the
schools.
``(B) End of obligated service.--
``(i) Encouragement to continue service.--
In the case of any health professional whose
period of obligated service under the
Scholarship Program is nearing completion, the
Secretary shall encourage the individual to
remain in a mental health professional shortage
area and to continue in covered employment.
``(ii) Assistance in transition.--During
the period in which a health professional is
planning and making the transition from
obligated service under the Scholarship
Program, the Secretary may provide assistance
to the professional regarding such transition
if the professional is remaining in a mental
health professional shortage area and is
continuing in covered employment.
``(d) Factors Considered in Providing Contracts; Priorities.--
``(1) Factors considered in providing contracts.--In
providing contracts under the Scholarship Program--
``(A) the Secretary shall consider the extent of
the demonstrated interest of the applicants for the
contracts in providing substance use disorder treatment
and behavioral and mental health services; and
``(B) may consider such other factors regarding the
applicants as the Secretary determines to be relevant
to selecting qualified individuals to participate in
such Program.
``(2) Priorities.--In providing contracts under the
Scholarship Program, the Secretary shall give priority--
``(A) to any application for such a contract
submitted by an individual who has characteristics that
increase the probability that the individual will
continue to serve in a mental health professional
shortage area after the period of obligated service
pursuant to subsection (f) is completed; and
``(B) to any application for such a contract
submitted by an individual who is from a group or
population that is underrepresented in the substance
use disorder treatment and behavioral and mental health
workforce.
``(e) Commencement of Participation in Scholarship Program;
Notice.--
``(1) Commencement of participation.--An individual becomes
a participant in the Scholarship Program only upon the
Secretary's approval of the individual's application submitted
under subsection (b)(2) and the Secretary's acceptance of the
contract submitted by the individual under subsection (b)(3).
``(2) Notice.--The Secretary shall provide written notice
to an individual promptly upon the Secretary's approving, under
paragraph (1), of the individual's participation in the
Scholarship Program.
``(f) Written Contract; Contents.--The written contract (referred
to in this section) between the Secretary and an individual shall
contain--
``(1) an agreement that--
``(A) subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary
agrees to provide the individual with a scholarship
(described in subsection (g)) for a period of one or
more school years during which the individual is
pursuing a course of study described in subsection
(b)(1)(B); and
``(B) subject to paragraph (2), the individual
agrees--
``(i) to accept provision of such a
scholarship to the individual;
``(ii) to maintain enrollment in a course
of study described in subsection (b)(1)(B)
until the individual completes the course of
study;
``(iii) while enrolled in such course of
study, to maintain an acceptable level of
academic standing (as determined under
regulations of the Secretary by the educational
institution offering such course of study); and
``(iv) to serve for a time period (in this
section referred to as the `period of obligated
service') equal to one year for each school
year for which the individual was provided a
scholarship under the Scholarship Program, in
covered employment in a mental health
professional shortage area (designated under
section 332);
``(2) a provision that any financial obligation of the
United States arising out of a contract entered into under this
section and any obligation of the individual which is
conditioned thereon, is contingent upon funds being
appropriated for scholarships under this section;
``(3) a statement of the damages to which the United States
is entitled, under subsection (j), for the individual's breach
of the contract; and
``(4) such other statements of the rights and liabilities
of the Secretary and of the individual, not inconsistent with
the provisions of this section.
``(g) Scholarship Provisions; Contract With Educational
Institution; Increase in Monthly Stipend.--
``(1) Scholarship provisions.--A scholarship provided to a
student for a school year under a written contract under the
Scholarship Program shall consist of payment to, or (in
accordance with paragraph (2)) on behalf of, the student of the
amount (except as provided in section 711) of--
``(A) the tuition of the student in such school
year; and
``(B) all other reasonable educational expenses,
including fees, books, and laboratory expenses,
incurred by the student in such school year.
``(2) Contract with educational institution.--The Secretary
may contract with an educational institution, in which a
participant in the Scholarship Program is enrolled, for the
payment to the educational institution of the amounts of
tuition and other reasonable educational expenses described in
paragraph (1). Payment to such an educational institution may
be made without regard to section 3324 of title 31, United
States Code.
``(h) Employment Ceiling of Department Unaffected.--Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, individuals who have entered into written
contracts with the Secretary under this section, while undergoing
academic training, shall not be counted against any employment ceiling
affecting the Department.
``(i) Obligated Service.--Any individual receiving payments under
the Scholarship Program as required by an agreement under this section
shall agree to an annual commitment to work full-time in covered
employment, with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years of
covered employment, in the United States in--
``(1) a mental health professional shortage area, as
designated under section 332;
``(2) a county (or a municipality, if not contained within
any county) where the mean drug overdose death rate per 100,000
people over the past 3 years for which official data is
available from the State, is higher than the most recent
available national average overdose death rate per 100,000
people, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; or
``(3) any facility, program, center, or clinic as
determined appropriate by the Secretary for purposes of this
section because of a shortage of mental health professionals,
including private practices and other medical facilities
designated under section 332(a) as having such a shortage.
``(j) Breach.--
``(1) Liquidated damages formula.--The Secretary may
establish a liquidated damages formula to be used in the event
of a breach of an agreement entered into under this section.
``(2) Limitation.--The failure by an individual to complete
the full period of service obligated pursuant to such an
agreement, taken alone, shall not constitute a breach of the
agreement, so long as the individual completed in good faith
the years of service for which payments were made to the
individual under this section.
``(k) Fund Regarding Use of Amounts Recovered for Contract Breach
To Replace Services Lost as Result of Breach.--
``(1) Establishment of fund.--There is established in the
Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the
Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental
Health Workforce Scholarship Program Replacement Fund (in this
subsection referred to as the `Fund'). The Fund shall consist
of such amounts as may be appropriated under paragraph (2) to
the Fund. Amounts appropriated for the Fund shall remain
available until expended.
``(2) Authorization of appropriations to fund.--For each
fiscal year, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund
an amount equal to the sum of--
``(A) the amount collected during the preceding
fiscal year by the Federal Government pursuant to the
liability of individuals under subsection (j) for the
breach of contracts entered into under this section;
and
``(B) the aggregate of the amount of interest
accruing during the preceding fiscal year on
obligations held in the Fund pursuant to paragraph (4)
and the amount of proceeds from the sale or redemption
of such obligations during such fiscal year.
``(3) Use of fund.--
``(A) Payments to certain health facilities.--
Amounts in the Fund and available pursuant to
appropriations Acts may, subject to subparagraph (B),
be expended by the Secretary to make payments to any
entity that has a need for a health professional to
provide substance use disorder treatment and behavioral
and mental health services as a result of the breach by
an individual of a contract entered into under this
section.
``(B) Purpose of payments.--An entity receiving
payments pursuant to subparagraph (A) may expend the
payments to recruit and employ a health professional to
provide substance use disorder treatment and behavioral
and mental health services to patients of the entity,
or to enter into a contract with such a professional to
provide the services to the patients.
``(4) Investment.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall invest such amounts of the Fund as such Secretary
determines are not required to meet current withdrawals
from the Fund. Such investments may be made only in
interest-bearing obligations of the United States. For
such purpose, such obligations may be acquired on
original issue at the issue price, or by purchase of
outstanding obligations at the market price.
``(B) Sale of obligations.--Any obligation acquired
by the Fund may be sold by the Secretary of the
Treasury at the market price.
``(l) Covered Employment Defined.--In this section, the term
`covered employment' means--
``(1) full-time employment (including a fellowship) where
the primary intent and function of the position is the direct
treatment or recovery support of patients with or in recovery
from a substance use, behavioral health, or mental health
disorder; and
``(2) may include employment as a physician (with a degree
of doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy), a psychiatric
nurse, a social worker, a marriage and family therapist, a
mental health counselor, an addiction counselor, an
occupational therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a child
and adolescent psychiatrist, or a neurologist.
``(m) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $75,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2026 through 2030.''.
(b) Exclusion of Scholarship From Gross Income of the Recipient.--
(1) In general.--Section 117(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of
subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end of
subparagraph (C) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the
end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) section 782 of the Public Health Service
Act.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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