I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 672 To require the Secretary of Education to provide a deferment for certain student loans of Federal employees subject to a lapse in discretionary appropriations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 17, 2019 Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mr. GOMEZ) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To require the Secretary of Education to provide a deferment for certain student loans of Federal employees subject to a lapse in discretionary appropriations, 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. DEFERMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES DUR- 3 ING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. 4 (a) SHUTDOWN DEFERMENT.— 5 (1) EFFECT ON PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST.— 6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a bor- 7 rower of a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H672.IH H672 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 672 IH part B or D of the Higher Education Act of 1965 1 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.; 1087a et seq.) who meets 2 the requirements described in paragraph (2) shall be 3 eligible for a deferment, during which— 4 (A) periodic installments of principal need 5 not be paid; and 6 (B) in the case of a— 7 (i) loan made, insured, or guaranteed 8 under part B of the Higher Education Act 9 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.), the Sec- 10 retary shall repay any interest owed; and 11 (ii) loan made under part D of the 12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 13 1087a et seq.), interest shall not accrue. 14 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A borrower of a loan de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be eligible for a 16 deferment during any period of not less than 15 con- 17 secutive days in which such borrower is an employee 18 of a Federal agency that is subject to a lapse in dis- 19 cretionary appropriations. 20 (b) EFFECT OF SHUTDOWN DEFERMENT ON PUBLIC 21 SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 23 provision of law, for purposes of section 455(m) of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H672.IH H672 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 672 IH the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 1087e(m))— 2 (A) the Secretary of Education shall treat 3 an unpaid monthly payment on a loan during a 4 deferment period described in subsection (a)(2) 5 as if such monthly payment has been made on 6 the loan if, during the reimbursement period, 7 the borrower of such loan— 8 (i) makes each monthly payment due 9 on such loan for each month of such reim- 10 bursement period; 11 (ii) pays the amount of such unpaid 12 monthly payment; and 13 (iii) not later than the day on which 14 the first monthly payment is due during 15 such reimbursement period, pays any other 16 amounts that were due on such loan as of 17 the day before the deferment period; and 18 (B) with respect to a borrower who does 19 not pay the amount of any such unpaid month- 20 ly payment on a loan during such reimburse- 21 ment period, beginning with the first monthly 22 payment due on such loan after the reimburse- 23 ment period and for each succeeding monthly 24 payment until the total amount of such unpaid 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H672.IH H672 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 672 IH monthly payments on such loan are paid, the 1 amount of the monthly payment due on such 2 loan shall equal— 3 (i) the monthly payment due on such 4 loan for such month; and 5 (ii) the amount of 1 unpaid monthly 6 payment on such loan. 7 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of paragraph 8 (1): 9 (A) DEFERMENT.—The term ‘‘deferment 10 period’’, when used with respect to a borrower, 11 means the period in which the borrower is in 12 the deferment described in subsection (a)(2). 13 (B) MONTHLY PAYMENT.—The term 14 ‘‘monthly payment’’ means a monthly payment 15 under section 455(m)(1)(A) of the Higher Edu- 16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17 1087e(m)(1)(A)). 18 (C) REIMBURSEMENT PERIOD.—The term 19 ‘‘reimbursement period’’, when used with re- 20 spect to a borrower, means a period that is— 21 (i) equal to the number of days of the 22 deferment period of the borrower; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H672.IH H672 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 672 IH (ii) begins on the day after such 1 deferment period. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H672.IH H672 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS