COVID–19 Student Loan Relief Extension Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 394 To expand loan relief to all Federal student loan borrowers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 21, 2021 Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILLIAMS of Geor- gia, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. HIMES, Mr. LARSON of Con- necticut, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. KILMER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. WELCH, Ms. UNDERWOOD, and Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To expand loan relief to all Federal student loan borrowers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Student 4 Loan Relief Extension Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 394 IH SEC. 2. EXPANDING LOAN RELIEF TO ALL FEDERAL STU- 1 DENT LOAN BORROWERS. 2 Section 3502(a) of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, 3 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) 4 is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 6 (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and 7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN.—The term 10 ‘Federal student loan’ means a loan— 11 ‘‘(A) made under part D, part B, or part 12 E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), and held by the 14 Department of Education; 15 ‘‘(B) made, insured, or guaranteed under 16 part B of such title, or made under part E of 17 such title, and not held by the Department of 18 Education; or 19 ‘‘(C) made under— 20 ‘‘(i) subpart II of part A of title VII 21 of the Public Health Service Act (42 22 U.S.C. 292q et seq.); or 23 ‘‘(ii) part E of title VIII of the Public 24 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297a et 25 seq.).’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 394 IH SEC. 3. EXTENDING THE LENGTH OF BORROWER RELIEF 1 DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY. 2 Section 3513 of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, 3 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) 4 is amended— 5 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol- 6 lows: 7 ‘‘(a) SUSPENSION OF PAYMENTS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the period begin- 9 ning on March 13, 2020, and ending 30 days after 10 the termination date of the public health emergency 11 declared by the Secretary of Health and Human 12 Services on January 31, 2020, under section 319 of 13 the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) in 14 response to COVID–19, the Secretary or, as applica- 15 ble, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 16 shall suspend all payments due on Federal student 17 loans. 18 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION PERIOD.—For one additional 19 30-day period beginning on the day after the last 20 day of the suspension period described in subsection 21 (a), the Secretary or, as applicable, the Secretary of 22 Health and Human Services, shall ensure that any 23 missed payments on a Federal student loan by a 24 borrower during such additional 30-day period— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 394 IH ‘‘(A) do not result in collection fees or pen- 1 alties associated with late payments; and 2 ‘‘(B) are not reported to any consumer re- 3 porting agency or otherwise impact the bor- 4 rower’s credit history. 5 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF COMPENSATION.— 6 The Secretary or, as applicable, the Secretary of 7 Health and Human Services shall— 8 ‘‘(A) with respect to a holder of a Federal 9 student loan defined in subparagraph (B) or 10 (C) of section 3502(a)(2)— 11 ‘‘(i) determine any losses for such 12 holder due to the suspension of payments 13 on such loan under paragraph (1); and 14 ‘‘(ii) establish reasonable compensa- 15 tion for such losses; and 16 ‘‘(B) not later than 60 days after the date 17 of enactment of the COVID–19 Student Loan 18 Relief Extension Act, with respect to a borrower 19 who made a payment on a Federal student loan 20 defined in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 21 3502(a)(2) during the period beginning on 22 March 13, 2020, and ending on such date of 23 enactment, the Secretary shall pay to the bor- 24 rower, an amount equal to the lower of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 394 IH ‘‘(i) the amount paid by the borrower 1 on such loan during such period; or 2 ‘‘(ii) the amount that was due on such 3 loan during such period. 4 ‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION.—A borrower who is re- 5 paying a Federal student loan pursuant to an in- 6 come-contingent repayment plan under section 7 455(d)(1)(D) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(d)(1)(D)) or an income-based re- 9 payment plan under section 493C of such Act (20 10 U.S.C. 1098e) shall not be required to recertify the 11 income or family size of the borrower under such 12 plan prior to December 31, 2021.’’; 13 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘part D or B 14 of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 15 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1071 et seq.)’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘part B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1071 et seq.; 18 1087aa et seq.)’’; 19 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘During the 20 period in which the Secretary suspends payments on 21 a loan under subsection (a), the Secretary’’ and in- 22 serting ‘‘During the period in which payments on a 23 Federal student loan are suspended under subsection 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 394 IH (a), the Secretary or, as applicable, the Secretary of 1 Health and Human Services’’; 2 (4) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘During the 3 period in which the Secretary suspends payments on 4 a loan under subsection (a), the Secretary’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘During the period in which payments on a 6 Federal student loan are suspended under subsection 7 (a), the Secretary or, as applicable, the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services’’; and 9 (5) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the Sec- 10 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary or, as applica- 11 ble, the Secretary of Health and Human Services,’’. 12 SEC. 4. NO INTEREST ACCRUAL. 13 Section 3513(b) of division A of the Coronavirus Aid, 14 Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–136) 15 is amended to read as follows: 16 ‘‘(b) PROVIDING INTEREST RELIEF.— 17 ‘‘(1) NO ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the period de- 19 scribed in subparagraph (D), interest on a Fed- 20 eral student loan shall not accrue or shall be 21 paid by the Secretary (or the Secretary of 22 Health and Human Services) during— 23 ‘‘(i) the repayment period of such 24 loan; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 394 IH ‘‘(ii) any period excluded from the re- 1 payment period of such loan (including any 2 period of deferment or forbearance); 3 ‘‘(iii) any period in which the bor- 4 rower of such loan is in a grace period; or 5 ‘‘(iv) any period in which the borrower 6 of such loan is in default on such loan. 7 ‘‘(B) DIRECT LOANS AND DEPARTMENT OF 8 EDUCATION HELD FFEL AND PERKINS 9 LOANS.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), in- 10 terest shall not accrue on a Federal student 11 loan defined in section 3502(a)(2)(A). 12 ‘‘(C) FFEL AND PERKINS LOANS NOT 13 HELD BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 14 AND HHS LOANS.—For purposes of subpara- 15 graph (A)— 16 ‘‘(i) in the case of a Federal student 17 loan defined in section 3502(a)(2)(B), the 18 Secretary shall pay, on a monthly basis, 19 the amount of interest due on the unpaid 20 principal of such loan to the holder of such 21 loan, except that any payments made 22 under this clause shall not affect payment 23 calculations under section 438 of the High- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 394 IH er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 1087–1); and 2 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a Federal student 3 loan defined in section 3502(a)(2)(C), the 4 Secretary of Health and Human Services 5 shall pay, on a monthly basis, the amount 6 of interest due on the unpaid principal of 7 such loan to the holder of such loan. 8 ‘‘(D) PERIOD DESCRIBED.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The period de- 10 scribed in this subparagraph is the period 11 beginning on March 13, 2020, and ending 12 the day following the date of the enact- 13 ment of the COVID–19 Student Loan Re- 14 lief Extension Act that is 2 months after 15 the national U–5 measure of labor under- 16 utilization shows initial signs of recovery. 17 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 18 graph: 19 ‘‘(I) NATIONAL U–5 MEASURE OF 20 LABOR UNDERUTILIZATION.—The 21 term ‘national U–5 measure of labor 22 underutilization’ means the season- 23 ally-adjusted, monthly U–5 measure 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 394 IH of labor underutilization published by 1 the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2 ‘‘(II) INITIAL SIGNS OF RECOV- 3 ERY.—The term ‘initial signs of recov- 4 ery’ means that the average national 5 U–5 measure of labor underutilization 6 for months in the most recent 3-con- 7 secutive-month period for which data 8 are available— 9 ‘‘(aa) is lower than the high- 10 est value of the average national 11 U–5 measure of labor under- 12 utilization for a 3-consecutive- 13 month period during the period 14 beginning in March 2020 and the 15 most recent month for which 16 data from the Bureau of Labor 17 Statistics are available by an 18 amount that is equal to or great- 19 er than one-third of the dif- 20 ference between— 21 ‘‘(AA) the highest value 22 of the average national U–5 23 measure of labor under- 24 utilization for a 3-consecu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 394 IH tive-month period during 1 such period; and 2 ‘‘(BB) the value of the 3 average national U–5 meas- 4 ure of labor underutilization 5 for the 3-consecutive-month 6 period ending in February 7 2020; and 8 ‘‘(bb) has decreased for each 9 month during the most recent 2 10 consecutive months for which 11 data from the Bureau of Labor 12 Statistics are available. 13 ‘‘(E) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this para- 14 graph: 15 ‘‘(i) DEFAULT.—The term ‘default’— 16 ‘‘(I) in the case of a Federal stu- 17 dent loan made, insured, or guaran- 18 teed under part B or D of the Higher 19 Education Act of 1965, has the mean- 20 ing given such term in section 435(l) 21 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 22 (20 U.S.C. 1085); 23 ‘‘(II) in the case of a Federal 24 student loan made under part E of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 394 IH the Higher Education Act of 1965, 1 has the meaning given such term in 2 section 674.2 of title 34, Code of Fed- 3 eral Regulations (or successor regula- 4 tions); or 5 ‘‘(III) in the case of a Federal 6 student loan defined in section 7 3502(a)(2)(C), has the meaning given 8 such term in section 721 or 835 of 9 the Public Health Service Act (42 10 U.S.C. 292q, 297a), as applicable. 11 ‘‘(ii) GRACE PERIOD.—The term 12 ‘grace period’ means— 13 ‘‘(I) in the case of a Federal stu- 14 dent loan made, insured, or guaran- 15 teed under part B or D of the Higher 16 Education Act of 1965, the 6-month 17 period after the date the student 18 ceases to carry at least one-half the 19 normal full-time academic workload, 20 as described in section 428(b)(7) of 21 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 22 U.S.C. 1078(b)(7)); 23 ‘‘(II) in the case of a Federal 24 student loan made under part E of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 394 IH the Higher Education Act of 1965, 1 the 9-month period after the date on 2 which a student ceases to carry at 3 least one-half the normal full-time 4 academic workload, as described in 5 section 464(c)(1)(A) of the Higher 6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7 1087dd(c)(1)(A)); and 8 ‘‘(III) in the case of a Federal 9 student loan defined in section 10 3502(a)(2)(C), the 1-year period de- 11 scribed in section 722(c) of the Public 12 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 13 292r(c)) or the 9-month period de- 14 scribed in section 836(b)(2) of such 15 Act (42 U.S.C. 297b(b)(2)), as appli- 16 cable. 17 ‘‘(iii) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—The 18 term ‘repayment period’ means— 19 ‘‘(I) in the case of a Federal stu- 20 dent loan made, insured, or guaran- 21 teed under part B or D of the Higher 22 Education Act of 1965, the repayment 23 period described in section 428(b)(7) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H394.IH H394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 394 IH of the Higher Education Act of 1965 1 (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(7)); 2 ‘‘(II) in the case of a Federal 3 student loan made under part E of 4 the Higher Education Act of 1965, 5 the repayment period described in sec- 6 tion 464(c)(4) of the Higher Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 1087dd(c)(4)); or 9 ‘‘(III) in the case of a Federal 10 student loan defined in section 11 3502(a)(2)(C), the repayment period 12 described in section 722(c) or 13 836(b)(2) of the Public Health Serv- 14 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 292r(c), 15 297b(b)(2)), as applicable. 16 ‘‘(2) INTEREST REFUND IN LIEU OF RETRO- 17 ACTIVE APPLICABILITY.—By not later than 60 days 18 after the date of enactment of the COVID–19 Stu- 19 dent Loan Relief Extension Act, the Secretary or, as 20 applicable, the Secretary of Health and Human 21 Services, shall, for each Federal student loan defined 22 in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 3502(a)(2) for 23 which interest was not paid by such Secretary pur- 24 suant to paragraph (1) during the period beginning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H39 [Text truncated for display. 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