Citywide Association of Law Assistants of the Civil, Criminal and Family Courts in the City of New York
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This week the Biden-Harris Administration previewed the Student Loan Debt Relief application form. Here’s what you need to know: The application will be available later this month.
It’s short, simple, and will be available online at a .gov URL.
You don’t need to log in or provide any documents to apply.
Federal Student Aid will reach out directly once you’ve submitted your application if you need to provide additional information.
You will be able to fill out the application on both mobile and desktop devices.
For NYSLRS members who participated in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup efforts, the deadline to reserve your rights under the World Trade Center Presumption Law has been extended. The new deadline is September 11, 2026.
The World Trade Center Presumption Law provides a presumption to eligible NYSLRS members and retirees who become permanently disabled and are unable to do their jobs due to certain conditions, that they can claim their permanent disabilities are the result
of participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations. The presumption will apply unless it’s proven the condition was the result of other factors.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, the presumption allows you to:
File for an accidental disability retirement in the future;
Have an existing disability retirement benefit reclassified as an accidental disability retirement benefit; or
Leave your beneficiaries an accidental death benefit.
You must file an Application for World Trade Center Notice (RS6047-N) prior to submitting an Application for World Trade Center Accidental Disability Presumption (RS6047-W). Even if you do not currently suffer one of the qualifying conditions, filing this notice will protect your right — and the right of your beneficiaries — to apply for benefits in the future.
Once you file a notice with NYSLRS, there is no subsequent deadline to file for an accidental disability retirement or retirement reclassification should the need arise.
For more information, Click Here >>
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed legislation to expand and simplify public employee access to the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The law establishes uniformity around what qualifies as full-time employment for the purposes of accessing PSLF and allows public service employers to certify employment on behalf of workers.
PSLF is a federal program that incentivizes public service work by canceling a portion of borrowers' federal student loans. The program requires borrowers to be full-time employees of an eligible public service employer and make 120 qualifying payments towards their student loan, after which the remainder of their federal student loan debt is forgiven. Any student loan debt that is forgiven under this program will not be subject to tax under New York State tax law.
The new law (Chapter 562) addresses barriers to accessing PSLF by:
1. Clarifying the legal definitions of key terms such as, "certifying employment," "employee," "full-time," "public service employer," "public service loan forgiveness form," and "Public service loan forgiveness program;"
2. Setting a standard hourly threshold for full-time employment at 30 hours per week for the purposes of accessing PSLF and clarifying standardized prep time to be included in such calculation for faculty and teachers; and
3. Allowing public service employers to certify employment on behalf of individuals or groups of employees directly with the U.S. Department of Education.
Under a COVID-emergency program from the U.S. Department of
Education, many federal student loans are being forgiven for government/
nonprofit workers. Read More >>
Citywide Association of Law Assistants
of the Civil, Criminal and Family Courts
in the City of New York
22 Harrison Avenue
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
P: 516.265.6471
F: 516.608.9699
Email: fghezzi@nyscala.com