Senate panel advances bill to create air traffic controller loan redemption program, boost aviation training

TRENTON, N.J. — Legislation that would establish a loan redemption program to encourage New Jersey residents to pursue careers as air traffic controllers cleared the Senate Higher Education Committee on Monday, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Raj Mukherji.

The measure, S-4432, would create the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) and establish a companion grant program in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to support aviation-related initiatives at public colleges and universities.

“By keeping our airports and our skies organized and safe, air traffic controllers remain an indispensable part of New Jersey’s transportation workforce,” said Mukherji (D-Hudson). “Yet despite the critical shortages of controllers both in our region and across the nation, not a single New Jersey college currently participates in the FAA’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative program, the primary pipeline for producing and retaining new air traffic controllers. This legislation changes that and will allow a qualifying institution to train homegrown talent, will incentivize aspiring air traffic controllers through a game-changing loan redemption program, and will increase the likelihood that graduates will stay in New Jersey’s aviation ecosystem and strengthen our aviation workforce.”

Mukherji said the bill also expands opportunities for research into unexplained aerial phenomena.

“Importantly, this bill is also making it possible for New Jersey researchers to contribute to the growing body of scientific scholarship around UAPs, especially in light of credible reports moving faster than the speed of sound without a sonic boom. We should be humble enough, as a species, to recognize that we don’t know what we don’t know — and not arrogant enough to assume we are the only sentient beings in the universe. In any event, encouraging rigorous study of these phenomena — an area of increasing national attention — is both intellectually honest and essential for aviation safety.”

Under the loan redemption program, up to 100 percent of a participant’s qualifying student loan debt could be forgiven after four years of service as an air traffic controller at an approved airport in New Jersey or operated by a multi-state agency serving the state. Repayment would begin at 16 percent per year, capping at a maximum of $100,000 in loan forgiveness per participant.

To qualify, applicants must be New Jersey residents, employed as air traffic controllers at an approved site and submit an application through HESAA.

The bill also seeks to incentivize public colleges to build pathways into the profession by providing grants to institutions that:
• Join the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative
• Establish non-engineering aviation degree programs, including air traffic control and aviation administration
• Create a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, including drones