S 3631 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Establishes Allied Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program.

This bill establishes a program to help New Jersey allied health professionals reduce student loan debt. It covers licensed workers like nurses, therapists, phlebotomists, and medical technicians (excluding physicians) who agree to work full-time in New Jersey for four years. Participants receive partial loan forgiveness for each year of service, covering both principal and interest on qualifying education loans for their healthcare training. To qualify, applicants must be NJ residents, hold the required license, and commit to working at a licensed healthcare facility or in-home care.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 19, 2026 Last action May 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprint · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended by the Senate Higher Education Committee to add athletic trainers to the definition of allied health care professional, expanding the pool of eligible loan redemption participants. The explanatory statement section at the end of the bill was removed, which is a standard procedural change when a bill is reprinted after committee action.
Scope change
The program's scope was slightly expanded by adding athletic trainers as a qualifying allied health care profession, meaning athletic trainers licensed or certified in New Jersey can now participate in the loan redemption program.
DEFINITION

The definition of 'Allied Health Care Professional' was expanded to include athletic trainers in the list of covered professions, alongside respiratory specialists, phlebotomists, and others. This broadens eligibility for the loan redemption program.

TECHNICAL

The entire STATEMENT section (a multi-paragraph summary explaining the bill's provisions) was removed from the end of the text. This is a standard procedural change when a bill is reprinted after committee reporting and does not affect the operative language of the bill.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
May 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Andrew Zwicker
Andrew Zwicker
DDemocratic
NJ
16