Establishing the nonprofit employer recruitment and retention loan repayment program within the college student aid commission and making appropriations

This bill establishes the nonprofit employer recruitment and retention loan repayment program within the college student aid commission (commission). The bill requires the commission to administer the program for purposes of providing payments to nonprofit organizations to be used for providing loan repayments to certain employees to assist in the recruitment and retention of those employees who agree to remain full-time employees of the nonprofit organization for five years or who agree to remain part-time employees of the nonprofit organization for seven years. The bill provides that an employee of a nonprofit organization is eligible to apply to enter into a program agreement with the commission and the nonprofit organization for loan repayments under the program if the employee has academic experience in leadership or the management of nonprofit organizations or has attained a credential or certification related to leadership or the management of nonprofit organizations, and if the total annual compensation the nonprofit organization pays to the employee is less than or equal to $60,000. The bill provides that the eligible employee, nonprofit organization, and commission shall enter into a program agreement for loan repayments. Additionally, the bill provides that, in order to receive loan repayments, an eligible employee shall agree to engage in either five years of full-time employment with the nonprofit organization or seven years of part-time employment with the nonprofit organization. The bill requires the commission to give priority to residents of Iowa and, if requested by the adjutant general, to applicants who are members of the Iowa national guard. The bill limits the amount of loan repayment to a nonprofit organization for an eligible employee who enters into a program agreement to no more than $5,000 annually and no more than $25,000 total. The bill authorizes an employee who entered into a program agreement to apply to the commission to amend the agreement to allow the employee to switch to part-time employment or full- time employment, as applicable. The bill provides that the commission, nonprofit organization, and employee may amend the agreement under which the employee shall engage in part-time employment for an extended period of part-time employment determined by the commission to be proportional to the amount of full-time employment remaining under the original agreement. The bill establishes when the obligation of an employee to engage in either full-time employment or part-time employment under an agreement shall be considered satisfied. The bill provides that, if a loan repayment recipient fails to fulfill the obligation to engage in employment in accordance with the agreement, the recipient shall be subject to repayment to the commission. The bill requires the commission to submit a report to the general assembly by January 1, annually, detailing certain specified information related to the program. The bill establishes a nonprofit employer recruitment and retention loan repayment program fund in the state treasury as a separate fund under the control of the commission. The bill appropriates $5 million to the fund for FY 2022-2023. The bill defines “eligible loan”, “nonprofit organization”, and “part-time”.