More Nurses in Rural Schools Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10694 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10694

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide eligibility for 
  nurses working in an elementary or secondary school within a health 
   professional shortage area to participate in the National Health 
     Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 2026

  Ms. Perez (for herself and Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide eligibility for 
  nurses working in an elementary or secondary school within a health 
   professional shortage area to participate in the National Health 
     Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``More Nurses in Rural Schools Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN SCHOOL NURSES TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL 
              HEALTH SERVICE CORPS LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    Section 338B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l-1) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Eligibility of Certain School Nurses.--
            ``(1) Special rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this section, the Secretary may permit an individual to meet 
        the requirement of subsection (f)(1)(A)(iv), relating to a 
        period of obligated service, by agreeing to serve for a time 
        period equal to 2 years, or such longer period as the 
        individual may agree, as a school nurse in an elementary or 
        secondary school located within a health professional shortage 
        area (designated under section 332).
            ``(2) Part-time service.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of an individual 
                described in paragraph (1) who agrees to serve in a 
                position as a school nurse on less than a full-year 
                basis or less than a full-time basis (or both), the 
                Secretary shall increase the time period of service 
                required under paragraph (1) so that such individual is 
                required to serve the same number of hours as an 
                individual serving in such a position on a full-year, 
                full-time basis.
                    ``(B) Certification.--The Secretary shall establish 
                annual certification requirements for individuals 
                described in subparagraph (A) for the purpose of 
                verifying the number of hours worked by such 
                individuals.
            ``(3) Waiver of certain priorities and limitations.--The 
        assignment priorities and limitations under sections 
        333(a)(1)(D), 333(b), 333A(a)(1)(B)(ii), and 333A(a)(1)(B)(iii) 
        shall not apply to an individual described in paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Elementary school; secondary school.--The 
                terms `elementary school' and `secondary school' have 
                the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7801).
                    ``(B) School nurse.--The term `school nurse' means 
                a registered nurse who is employed by a school or local 
                educational agency or State or State educational agency 
                and is qualified under State law to provide assessment, 
                diagnosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and 
                other health services to meet student needs.
            ``(5) Set-aside.--Of the amount made available to carry out 
        this section for a fiscal year, not less than 5 percent shall 
        be used to provide for the participation of school nurses in 
        the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program as 
        authorized by this subsection.''.
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