Social workers: student loan repayment program.

Existing law establishes the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) in the California Health and Human Services Agency to regulate health planning and research development. Existing law makes the OSHPD responsible for administering various scholarship and loan repayment programs for health care professionals. This bill would establish the California Social Worker Student Loan Repayment Program in the OSHPD to provide loan repayment awards to individuals who have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in social work, as specified, have received student loans in order to meet the costs associated with obtaining that degree, are in the 3rd year of employment as a child welfare social worker and will continue to have repayment obligations on the student loans at the end of that year. The bill would require that the loan repayment award be equal to 50% of the balance remaining on the student loan at the end of the 3rd year of the specified employment. The bill would authorize the OSHPD to adopt rules and regulations for the purpose of administering the program and would make its provisions operative only upon appropriate funding, as determined by the OSHPD, being made available by appropriation of the Legislature or other sources. The bill would limit the period for acceptance of new program applications to 5 years after the first appropriation of funding by the Legislature. The Personal Income Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income. The bill would, if the program becomes operative, exclude from gross income for purposes of the Personal Income Tax Law the amount of a loan repayment award received by an individual under the California Social Worker Student Loan Repayment Program. The bill would direct the Legislative Analyst, on an annual basis and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to collaborate with the Franchise Tax Board to review the effectiveness of the tax credit.