1999 WISCONSIN ACT 144
An Act to create 20.235 (1) (cx) and 39.398 of the statutes; relating to: creating a loan program for teachers and orientation and mobility instructors of visually impaired pupils, granting rule-making authority and making an appropriation.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
144,1
Section
1. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
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See PDF for table 
144,2
Section
2. 20.235 (1) (cx) of the statutes is created to read:
20.235 (1) (cx) Loan program for teachers and orientation and mobility instructors of visually impaired pupils. The amounts in the schedule for the teachers and orientation and mobility instructors of visually impaired pupils loan program under s. 39.398.
144,3
Section
3. 39.398 of the statutes is created to read:
39.398 Teachers and orientation and mobility instructors of visually impaired pupils loan program. (1) (a) The board shall establish a loan program to defray the cost of tuition, fees and expenses for residents of this state enrolled in a program that prepares persons to be licensed as teachers of visually impaired pupils or as orientation and mobility instructors, as defined by the board by rule, at an accredited institution of higher education in this state or in a physically adjacent state, as defined in s. 175.46 (1) (d). To the extent possible, the board shall give preference, to persons who are likely to return to this state to work with visually impaired persons.
(b) The board shall make loans under this section from the appropriation under s. 20.235 (1) (cx). The maximum amount of a loan for a person during any fiscal year is $10,000. The maximum amount that a person may receive under this section is $40,000. The terms of the loan shall provide that a loan recipient is not required to repay the loan while the loan recipient is enrolled in the preparatory program described in par. (a).
(2) (a) After the recipient of a loan under sub. (1) has completed the preparatory program described in sub. (1), the board shall forgive 25% of the loan's principal and interest for the first fiscal year, 25% of the loan's principal and interest for the 2nd fiscal year and 50% of the loan's principal and interest for the 3rd fiscal year that the recipient is licensed and employed full-time in this state as a teacher of visually impaired pupils or as an orientation and mobility instructor by a school district, the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired or a cooperative educational service agency. The board may forgive loans on a prorated basis for persons employed less than full-time.
(b) The board shall promulgate rules to administer this section.
