Sec. 17.04.10.06. Student Loan Repayment Pilot Program

A. Eligible Employees. The following employees are eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Pilot Program:

(1) Employees who, at the time of admission to the Program, are employees of one of the participating units as defined in State Personnel and Pensions Article, §10-501, Annotated Code of Maryland;

(2) Employees with a record of satisfactory service, as determined by the participating unit;

(3) Employees who submit an application for the Student Loan Repayment Pilot Program; and

(4) Employees with qualifying student loans that have an outstanding balance as verified by the participating unit.

B. Employee Selection. When selecting employees to participate in the Program, the participating unit shall consider, among other unit-specific elements, the job classification, current recruitment and retention issues, and available funding.

C. Service Obligations.

(1) Prior to a student loan repayment award, the employee shall sign a service obligation agreement with the participating unit, whereby the employee agrees to remain in the service of the participating unit for a specified period unless involuntarily separated from service.

(2) The service obligation period per award may not be less than 3 years.

(3) The service obligation period may exceed 3 years, as determined by the head of the participating unit.

(4) During the service obligation period, the employee shall maintain satisfactory performance, as determined by the head of the participating unit.

(5) The service agreement shall provide that if the service obligation is not completed by the employee, if the employee fails to use the award for the repayment of the employee's student loan, or if the employee fails to provide satisfactory proof that the award was used to repay the employee's student loan, the employee will repay the State the amount of any benefits provided under the Program, unless repayment is waived in writing by the participating unit.

D. Student Loan Repayments.

(1) Student loan repayments shall be paid by the participating unit directly to the certified lender on behalf of the employee or to the employee, if the employee provides proof satisfactory to the participating unit that the payment has been used to repay the employee's student loan.

(2) The Secretary of Budget and Management shall set student loan repayment limits for the Executive Branch agencies.

(3) Student loan repayments may not exceed $125,000 annually per participating unit.

(4) Student loan repayments shall be disbursed during the calendar year in accordance with the procedures adopted by the participating unit.

(5) Any student loan repayments awarded in the Program are subject to the availability of funds.

E. Reporting Requirements.

(1) The participating units shall record the following information related to the Program:

(a) Employee name;

(b) Position classification at the time of participation;

(c) The loan repayment amount for each employee; and

(d) Whether each payment was made to assist in employee recruitment or retention.

(2) The participating units shall report the recorded information to the Governor and the General Assembly, in accordance with State Government Article, §2-1246, Annotated Code of Maryland, on or before January 1 each year for the preceding fiscal year.

(3) Each student loan repayment amount shall be reported by the participating unit to the Central Payroll Bureau to be recorded as income for the selected employee within 30 days of the date of payment.