Senate tax committee hears bill to extend Rural Opportunity Zone incentives five years

The Senate Committee on Taxation opened a hearing on Senate Bill 69 to extend the Rural Opportunity Zone program, which provides student loan repayment assistance and a 100% state income tax credit to eligible people who move to designated rural counties.

Supporters said the program remains a useful recruitment tool for rural employers and hospitals and asked the committee to reauthorize it for five years. "The Kansas Hospital Association ... believes the rural opportunity zone program has been a useful tool for Kansas hospitals in our industry when recruiting healthcare professionals to rural areas," said Chad Austin of the Kansas Hospital Association.

The bill would extend the two existing incentives for an additional five years. Trisha Purdon, director of the Office of Rural Prosperity, which administers the program within the Kansas Department of Commerce, told the committee the program is funded through a single $5,000,000 annual appropriation. She said the student loan repayment assistance provides $3,000 a year for five years and that the annual payment is split between local sponsors and the state. "The student loan repayment assistance program offers $3,000 a year for 5 years to apply…