The office of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff announced Aug. 25 the Georgia lawmaker is “working across the aisle” to lower taxes for local nurses. The Atlanta native is attempting to pull together a bipartisan effort to enact the Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act, which would cut taxes for nurses that join the Federal Nurse Corps.
By joining the national program, nurses can receive scholarships and loan repayments in exchange for providing services in rural and underserved communities. The act would ensure that nurses participating in the national program would no longer be subjected to federal income taxes on their loan forgiveness and scholarships.
“I want to make it easier and more attractive for health care professionals to come and serve the people of Georgia,” Ossoff said in a news release. “All Georgians deserve world-class health care, which is why I’m working to bring Republicans and Democrats together to lower taxes for nurses who serve Georgia communities.”
The Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act has already received endorsements from the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Association of Public Health Nurses and other representative organizations.
“The Nurse Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs are vital sources of federal support, not only for our students and practitioners, but for the healthcare system as a whole,” Deborah Trautman, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, said in a news release. “We look forward to working with Congress to move this bipartisan effort forward.”
According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, Georgia ranks among the worst states in the country concerning the increasingly exacerbated nationwide nursing shortage. By 2035, the bureau estimated Georgia will not be able to fill roughly 21% of its nurse staffing needs.
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