Senate panel backs expanding student loan-repayment program to include marriage, family and substance-use counselors

Senators on the Senate Committee on Government Affairs heard testimony on Senate Bill 266 on Thursday, a proposal to expand Nevada’s student loan repayment program for providers who work in underserved communities to include marriage and family therapists and certified alcohol-and-drug counselors.

Senator Angie Taylor, sponsor of SB266, told the committee the bill “revises provisions governing the student loan repayment for providers of health care in underserved communities” to add the two professions. Fiona Perrault, who summarized the bill text for the committee, listed the new provider categories the bill would add.

Clinicians and education and public-health advocates testified in support. Dr. Ruth Ann Wright, a licensed alcohol-and-drug counselor, marriage-and-family therapist and psychologist with decades of supervisory experience, described supervising interns and what she said is the debt burden those trainees carry. “I have been privy to an incredible amount of information about the debt my interns having incurred in their desire to become licensed,” Wright said, arguing the change would help retain clinicians in underserved areas.

Several educational institutions, local governments and health providers also supported the bill and emphasized workforce shortages in rural and underserved communities. Cadence Matevich for Washoe County and representatives of Nevada State University, the University of Nevada, Reno and UNLV said the measure would expand the behavioral-health pipeline. Sarah Adler of Vitality Unlimited, which operates rural treatment programs, said the change addresses a “desperate need” for licensed alcohol-and-drug counselors in rural Nevada.

Legislative counsel clarified program eligibility and service requirements. Heidi Clarkson, legal division, summarized the eligibility rules recorded in the hearing record: to be eligible applicants must be residents of Nevada, be actively licensed, certified or registered in good standing in the state as a provider of health care and must commit to at least five years of clinical practice in an underserved area (which may include rural counties, tribal lands or qualifying census tracts).

Senator Taylor noted the state treasurer’s office administers the program created by the prior session and told the committee the treasurer’s fiscal note for SB266 indicated no fiscal impact. Witnesses said demand for loan-repayment awards exceeds available funding and that the change would add professions that historically were omitted from the original statutory list.

Opposition testimony was limited; a caller argued more fundamental workforce issues such as compensation should be addressed for medical providers. Committee members asked clarifying questions about exactly who may apply and whether applicants must have trained in Nevada; legal counsel said applicants must be current Nevada residents and licensed in Nevada but did not find a requirement in the statute that applicants trained in-state.

The sponsor closed urging support for the small statutory correction and noting the bill is intended to broaden the pool of behavioral-health professionals eligible for loan repayment in underserved areas.