PRINTER'S NO. 1040
No. 886 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY MARKOSEK, BISHOP, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, DALEY,
FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GRUCELA, HARHART, HERSHEY, JOSEPHS,
KORTZ, KULA, MANDERINO, MANN, MILLARD, MURT, O'NEILL,
PALLONE, PETRARCA, SAINATO, SAYLOR, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, SURRA,
WALKO AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 22, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS,
MARCH 22, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 26, 1992 (P.L.322, No.64), entitled as
2 amended, "An act providing for Commonwealth support for the
3 Agriculture Education Loan Forgiveness Program for certain
4 Pennsylvania residents who graduate from institutions of
5 higher education and who apply their degrees in family farm
6 operations, the practice of veterinary medicine or teaching
7 an agriculture curriculum within this Commonwealth," defining
8 agriculture-related industry and providing for loan
9 forgiveness related to work in agriculture-related
10 industries.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. The title and sections 2 and 3 of the act of June
14 26, 1992 (P.L.322, No.64), known as the Agriculture Education
15 Loan Forgiveness Act, amended November 29, 2004 (P.L.1392,
16 No.181), are amended to read:
17 AN ACT
18 Providing for Commonwealth support for the Agriculture Education
19 Loan Forgiveness Program for certain Pennsylvania residents
20 who graduate from institutions of higher education and who
1 apply their degrees in [family farm operations] agriculture-
2 related industries, the practice of veterinary medicine or
3 teaching an agriculture curriculum within this Commonwealth.
4 Section 2. Definitions.
5 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
6 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
7 context clearly indicates otherwise:
8 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
9 Agency.
10 "Agricultural products." Crops, livestock and livestock
11 products, and commodities, including, but not limited to:
12 (1) Field crops, including corn, wheat, oats, rye,
13 barley, hay, potatoes and dry beans.
14 (2) Fruits, including apples, peaches, grapes, cherries
15 and berries.
16 (3) Vegetables, including tomatoes, snap beans, cabbage,
17 carrots, beets, onions and mushrooms.
18 (4) Horticultural specialties, including nursery stock,
19 ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees and flowers.
20 (5) Cattle, sheep, hogs, goats, horses, poultry,
21 furbearing animals, milk, eggs and furs.
22 (6) Timber, wood and other wood products derived from
23 trees.
24 (7) Aquatic plants and animals and their by-products.
25 (8) Products derived from any of the above and other
26 products derived from the business of farming, including such
27 other products as may be manufactured, derived or prepared
28 from the heretofore mentioned products, raw or processed,
29 which are used as food for man or animals.
30 "Agriculture-related industry." An industry, including, but
20070H0886B1040 - 2 -
1 not limited to, a farm that produces agricultural products for
2 commercial purposes. The Department of Agriculture shall
3 annually determine and publish a list of agriculture-related
4 industries in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
5 ["Family farm." The real property of a farm owned by members
6 of an immediate family or by a family farm corporation used for
7 the production, for commercial purposes, of agricultural
8 products.
9 "Family farm corporation." A corporation of which at least
10 75% of its assets are devoted to the business of agriculture and
11 at least 75% of each class of stock of the corporation is
12 continuously owned by members of the immediate family.
13 "Immediate family member." A spouse, child, stepchild,
14 parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother, stepbrother, sister,
15 stepsister or like relative-in-law of an owner of real
16 property.]
17 "Mixed practice of veterinary medicine." As described by the
18 American Veterinary Medical Association, that type of clinical
19 veterinary practice or consultation which deals with more than
20 one categorical species, including, but not limited to,
21 agricultural animals.
22 "Practice of veterinary medicine." The practice in the field
23 of veterinary medicine by any person qualified by educational
24 training and experience in the science and techniques of
25 veterinary medicine and who is currently licensed to practice
26 veterinary medicine by the Pennsylvania State Board of
27 Veterinary Medicine under the act of December 27, 1974 (P.L.995,
28 No.326), known as the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act.
29 "Qualified applicant." A resident of this Commonwealth who
30 meets the criteria in all of the following paragraphs:
20070H0886B1040 - 3 -
1 (1) Holds:
2 (i) a degree in a field related to the production of
3 agricultural products from an accredited college or
4 university;
5 (ii) a current certification under the Department of
6 Education's Certification and Staffing Policies and
7 Guidelines Number 30-Agriculture Certification or a
8 successor document; or
9 (iii) a degree in the field of veterinary medicine,
10 from an accredited college or university.
11 (2) Has commenced:
12 (i) [the first year of] full-time employment or work
13 [on a family farm] in an agriculture-related industry on
14 or after July 1, 1991;
15 (ii) the first year of full-time employment teaching
16 an agricultural curriculum at the elementary or secondary
17 level in a public or private school on or after the
18 effective date of this subparagraph; or
19 (iii) the practice of veterinary medicine, a portion
20 of which activity must be for the protection and
21 enhancement of agricultural animal health and
22 productivity, on or after July 1, 1991.
23 (3) Has:
24 (i) borrowed through the agency-administered
25 Guaranteed Student Loan Programs for an educational
26 institution located in this Commonwealth; or
27 (ii) for individuals who have commenced work under
28 paragraph (2)(i) or practice under paragraph (2)(iii),
29 borrowed through the agency-administered Guaranteed
30 Student Loan Programs for an accredited college or
20070H0886B1040 - 4 -
1 university.
2 "U.S.D.A. certification." Certification by the United States
3 Department of Agriculture that a graduate veterinarian has
4 successfully passed an examination and is certified to sign
5 health certificates allowing the interstate commerce of
6 agricultural animals and animal products as well as the ability
7 to certify regulatory testing such as bovine tuberculosis and
8 brucellosis.
9 "Veterinary medicine." That branch of medicine which deals
10 with the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, administration,
11 prescription, operation or manipulation or application of any
12 apparatus or appliance for any disease, pain, deformity, defect,
13 injury, wound or physical condition of any animal or for the
14 prevention of or the testing for the presence of any disease.
15 Section 3. Agriculture Education Loan Forgiveness Program.
16 (a) Eligibility.--Qualified applicants who are selected for
17 the Agriculture Education Loan Forgiveness Program, in
18 accordance with this act, shall be eligible for payment by the
19 agency of a portion of the debt incurred by the applicant
20 through the agency-administered Guaranteed Student Loan Programs
21 for the education necessary to receive a degree in an
22 agriculturally related [field] industry.
23 (b) Time.--The agency shall forgive a proportional part of
24 the applicant's loan for each year that the applicant:
25 (1) is employed full time [on a family farm] in an
26 agriculture-related industry or works full time [on a family
27 farm] in an agriculture-related industry, a portion of which
28 must be located within this Commonwealth;
29 (2) meets the requirements of paragraph (1)(ii) of the
30 definition of "qualified applicant" in section 2 and is
20070H0886B1040 - 5 -
1 engaged as a full-time teacher of an agricultural curriculum
2 at the elementary or secondary level in a public or private
3 school within this Commonwealth; or
4 (3) is engaged in the mixed practice of veterinary
5 medicine within this Commonwealth, a portion of which
6 activity must be for the protection and enhancement of
7 agricultural animal health and productivity, and who has
8 obtained U.S.D.A. certification.
9 (c) [Maximum forgiveness.--No more than $2,000 shall be
10 forgiven in any year, and no more than $10,000 shall be forgiven
11 for any applicant. Awards shall be made in accordance with the
12 procedures established by the agency.] Amounts.--The following
13 provisions shall apply to the amount of loan forgiveness:
14 (1) For applicants who do not hold a graduate degree in
15 an agriculture-related industry, no more than $2,500 shall be
16 forgiven in any year, and no more than $12,500 shall be
17 forgiven for any applicant.
18 (2) For applicants who hold a graduate degree in an
19 agriculture-related industry, no more than $3,750 shall be
20 forgiven in any year, and no more than $18,750 shall be
21 forgiven for any applicant.
22 (3) For applicants who hold a degree in the field of
23 veterinary medicine, no more than $5,000 shall be forgiven in
24 any year, and no more than $25,000 shall be forgiven for any
25 applicant.
26 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
C15L24SFL/20070H0886B1040 - 6 -