JFAC adds funding for rural nursing loan-repayment after earlier motion failed in one chamber

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted March 12 to provide supplemental and ongoing funding to resume payments under the rural nursing loan-repayment program established in House Bill 213 (2023).

Committee members said the program was properly established in statute and that a procedural lapse left year-two awards unfunded. Representative Furness said nurses “came to us and say, hey, I didn't get my loan repayment,” and that the omission appeared to be inadvertent. The committee considered a set of actions: a transfer of remaining cash into the dedicated fund, a one-time supplemental appropriation to cover year-two awards, and an ongoing appropriation to fund subsequent years through the program's five-year statutory life.

An initial motion to transfer a larger cash amount to the program did not receive a majority affirmative vote in the Senate committee and the motion failed there; the committee record states that the matter would be transmitted to the Senate for further handling. After continued debate the committee approved a one-time appropriation of $375,000 from the rural nursing loan repayment fund for FY2025 by recorded vote; the committee also later approved an ongoing FY2026 addition of $625,000 from the same dedicated fund to support future awards.

Votes and disposition: the committee recorded a final affirmative action for the FY2025 one-time appropriation and for the FY2026 ongoing appropriation. Members who spoke in opposition cited program redundancy given other scholarships and federal programs available to nurses; supporters noted the statutory obligation and that affected nurses were not receiving duplicate benefits under other programs.

Senator Ward Engelking, addressing funding responsibility and legislative process, said the committee “is required to fund things that are in policy” and that policy concerns should be addressed in the germane committee and through separate legislation rather than withholding funds at the JFAC stage.

What’s next: The appropriation actions will be included in committee recommendations for the budget bill; the department will disburse the supplemental payment for year two and continue program administration per statute. The committee record notes the program sunsets five years after inception and that the department must request a base reduction at program sunset.

Sources: Committee transcript, Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, March 12, 2025.