,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cgcg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #ad1      
#bjbj,ms4 ,smith 7for herself and ,mr4  
,booker7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
improve the public health workforce loan
 repayment program4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,strengthening the ,public ,health      
,workforce ,act4  #b4 ,public health    
workforce loan repayment program        
,section #ggf of the ,public ,health    
,service ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #bie;f-#a7 
is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a7--   
7,a7 by striking supply of and inserting
 supply of1 and encourage recruitment   
of12 and  7,b7 by striking ,federal12   
7#b7 in subsection 7b7-- 7,a7 in        
paragraph 7#a77;,a7-- 7i7 by striking   
accredited academic educational         
institution in a ,state or territory in 
the final year and inserting institution
 of higher education in the final       

semester 7or equivalent72  7ii7 by      
striking or health professions degree or
 certificate and inserting degree1 a    
health professions degree1 or a degree  
in computer science1 information        
science1 information systems1           
information technology1 or statistics2  
7iii7 by striking ,federal12 and  7iv7  
by adding or after the semicolon at the 
end2  7,b7 in paragraph 7#a77;,b7-- 7i7 
in clause 7i7-- 7,i7 by striking        
accredited educational institution in a 
,state or territory and inserting       
institution of higher education2 and    
7,,ii7 by striking or health professions
 degree or certificate and inserting    
degree1 a health professions degree1 or 
a degree in computer science1           
information science1 information        
systems1 information technology1 or     
statistics2 and  7ii7 in clause 7ii71 by
 striking ,federal12 and  7,c7 in       
paragraph 7#d71 by striking section     
#dee7m71 #dbh;,j1 #dbh,k1 #dbh,l1 or    
#dfj and inserting section #dbh,k or    

#dbh,l2  7#c7 in subsection 7c7-- 7,a7  
in paragraph 7#a71 by striking or       
certificate2 and  7,b7 in paragraph     
7#b7-- 7i7 by striking ,federal12 and   
7ii7 by striking equal to the greater   
of-- and all that follows through the   
end of subparagraph 7,b7 and inserting  
of at least #b consecutive years22  7#d7
 in subsection 7d7-- 7,a7 by amending   
paragraph 7#a7 to read as follows3  7#a7
 ,in general ,a loan repayment provided 
for an individual under a written       
contract under the ,program shall       
consist of payment1 in accordance with  
paragraph 7#b71 for the individual      
toward the outstanding principal and    
interest on education loans incurred by 
the individual in the pursuit of the    
relevant degree in accordance with the  
terms of the contract4  2  7,b7 in      
paragraph 7#b7-- 7i7 by striking ,for   
each year and inserting the following3  
7,a7 ,in general ,for each year  2 and  
7ii7 by adding at the end the following3
  7,b7 ,considerations ,the ,secretary  

may take action in making awards to     
ensure that-- 7i7 not less than #ej     
percent of contracts under subsection   
7c7 are awarded to individuals1 who at  
the time of entering into the contract1 
are not employed by a local1 ,state1 or 
tribal public health agency or a related
 training fellowship1 as recognized by  
the ,secretary2 and  7ii7 the contracts 
provided under subsection 7c7 are       
equitably distributed among-- 7,i7 the  
geographical regions of the ,united     
,states2 and  7,,ii7 local1 ,state1 and 
tribal public health departments4  2 and
  7,c7 by amending paragraph 7#c7 to    
read as follows3  7#c7 ,tax treatment of
 payments ,for purposes of the ,internal
 ,revenue ,code of #aihf1 a payment made
 under this section shall be treated in 
the same manner as an amount received   
under section #cch;,b7g71 as described  
in section #ajh7;f77#d7 of such ,code4  
2  7#e7 in subsection 7e7-- 7,a7 by     
striking receiving a degree or          
certificate from a health professions or

 other related school and inserting with
 a contract to serve under subsection   
7c72 and  7,b7 by inserting or extended 
after postponed2  7#f7 by redesignating 
subsection 7g7 as subsection 7h72  7#g7 
by inserting after subsection 7f7 the   
following3  7g7 ,definitions ,in this   
section3 7#a7 ,institution of higher    
education ,the term institution of      
higher education has the meaning given  
the term in section #aja of the ,higher 
,education ,act of #aife4  7#b7         
,full-time ,the term full-time1 with    
respect to employment1 means            
employment-- 7,a7 with a single         
qualifying employer for not less than   
#cj hours per week2 or  7,b7 with #b or 
more qualifying employers for a total of
 not less than #cj hours per week4  7#c7
 ,education loan ,the term education    
loan means-- 7,a7 any loan made1        
insured1 or guaranteed under part ,b1   
,d1 or ,e of title ,,iv of the ,higher  
,education ,act of #aife2  7,b7 any loan
 made under subpart ,,ii of part ,a of  

this title or part ,e of title ,,viii2  
7,c7 a private education loan1 as       
defined in section #adj of the ,truth in
 ,lending ,act2 or  7,d7 any other loan 
funded1 insured1 or guaranteed by any   
,federal agency that is not the         
,department of ,education and that is   
issued directly to a student4  2 and    
7#h7 in subsection 7h71 as so           
redesignated1 by striking #aie1jjj1jjj  
for fiscal year #bjaj1 and such sums as 
may be necessary for each of fiscal     
years #bjaa through #bjae and inserting 
#bjj1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years   
#bjbj through #bjbe4