HB3283 amends the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program Act to add licensed occupational therapists and licensed occupational therapy assistants to the list of eligible professionals who may receive grant assistance. Under the bill, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission would be required, subject to appropriation, to award these applicants up to $15,000 per year for as long as four years, with the program continuing to encourage recipients to use the funds toward educational loan repayment.
The bill does not create a new program; rather, it expands the existing behavioral health workforce loan repayment structure by explicitly including occupational therapy professionals. The change would place occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in the same grant tier as licensed clinical social workers, licensed clinical professional counselors, and licensed marriage and family therapists, while leaving the program’s other award caps and eligibility categories intact.
Impact
HB3283 would amend 110 ILCS 996/25, the Community Behavioral Health Care Professional Loan Repayment Program Act, by broadening the list of eligible recipients and requiring the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to treat licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants as qualifying applicants for up to $15,000 annually. The practical effect would be to increase access to state-supported loan repayment assistance for these professions and potentially improve recruitment and retention in behavioral health and related care settings, subject to available appropriations.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be a workforce-support proposal aimed at helping health care professionals manage educational debt, which typically draws favorable attention from professional and service-provider groups.
Contention
The main policy issue apparent from the bill text is whether occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants should be included in a program originally focused on community behavioral health care professionals. Potential concerns could involve program cost, the use of limited appropriated funds, and whether expanding eligibility dilutes resources for existing participants. However, no specific objections, amendments, or opposing viewpoints are documented in the materials provided.