ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 5712
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 19, 2025
The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5712 (1R).
As amended, this bill establishes the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) and a program in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to provide grants to a public institutions of higher education for certain aviation and aircraft control related initiatives.
The amended bill establishes the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program. The program is to provide for the redemption of a portion of the qualifying student loan amounts of a program participant for each period of service at an approved site, which is defined as an airport located within the State or operated by a multi-state agency serving the State. The bill provides a $1 million supplemental appropriation for the loan redemption program, of which no more than five percent may be used by HESAA for administrative costs. To be eligible to participate in the program, an applicant is required to: be a resident of the State; and be employed as an air traffic controller at an approved site.
Under the program, the redemption of qualifying student loan amounts is to amount to 16 percent of the program participant’s qualifying student loan amounts in return for one full year of service at an approved site, up to $16,000, an additional 26 percent for a second full year of service, up to $26,000, an additional 28 percent for a third full year of service, up to $28,000, and an additional 30 percent for a fourth full year of service, up to $30,000. The total amount of loan redemption under the program is not to exceed $100,000.
The amended bill also establishes a program in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and any other State agencies as deemed appropriate by the secretary, to provide grants to a public institution of higher education to: support an institution of higher education’s participation in the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative; support the establishment of a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; facilitate the establishment of non-engineering aviation degrees that include instruction in air traffic control and aviation administration; and encourage an institution of higher education to join the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiatives Program.
A public institution of higher education seeking to participate in the program is to submit an application to the secretary in a form and manner prescribed by the secretary. The application is to include confirmation of the institution’s participation in, or planned participation in, the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative; the institution’s capacity to support a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; whether the institution offers non-engineering aviation degrees that include instruction in air traffic control and aviation administration, or has any plans to establish these degree programs; whether the institution participates in, or plans to participate in, the federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiatives Program; and any other information the secretary deems necessary. After reviewing applications, the secretary is to select one or more public institutions of higher education to participate in the program. The secretary is to give preference to an institution of higher education located in a county of the first class. The bill provides a $2.5 million appropriation for the grant program.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· clarify the definition of qualifying student loan amounts by specifying that interest paid or due on qualifying student loan amounts is to be considered eligible for redemption, not reimbursement, under the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program;
· remove a provision which required an application to be submitted by a program participant within one year of being initially hired as an eligible air traffic controller at an approved site for the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program;
· clarify the maximum dollar amount of loan redemption a program participant is eligible to receive for each full year of service;
· specify that the Secretary of Higher Education is to consult with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and any other State agencies as deemed appropriate by the secretary in establishing the program to provide aviation grants to public institutions of higher education;
· specify that aviation grants awarded pursuant to the bill are to support an institution of higher education’s participation in the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative;
· specify that any public institution of higher education is eligible to apply for aviation grants awarded pursuant to the bill;
· clarify provisions concerning the application submitted to the secretary for an aviation grant;
· remove a provision limiting the amount of an aviation grant to an individual four-year public institution of higher education to $2.5 million and instead provide that the secretary is to annually distribute a total of $2.5 million in aviation grants to public institutions of higher education;
· remove provisions which established a separate application process for county colleges if no four-year public institution of higher education applied for an aviation grant;
· clarify that funds appropriated for the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program and the program to provide aviation grants to public institutions of higher education are to fund the program instead of operating the program; and
· make technical changes to certain internal reference citations in the bill.