I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 781 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 24, 2019 Mr. PERLMUTTER (for himself and Mr. HURD of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Loan Relief 4 for Feds Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H781.IH H781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 781 IH SEC. 2. SPECIAL DEFERMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES 1 DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS. 2 (a) SPECIAL DEFERMENT.—Part G of the Higher 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amend- 4 ed by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 493E. SPECIAL DEFERMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOY- 6 EES DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS. 7 ‘‘(a) EFFECT ON PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST.—A bor- 8 rower of a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part 9 B or part D, who meets the requirements described in sub- 10 section (b) shall be eligible for a deferment, during 11 which— 12 ‘‘(1) periodic installments of principal need not 13 be paid; and 14 ‘‘(2) in the case of a— 15 ‘‘(A) loan made, insured, or guaranteed 16 under part B, the Secretary shall repay any in- 17 terest owed; and 18 ‘‘(B) loan made under part D, interest 19 shall not accrue. 20 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A borrower of a loan described 21 in subsection (a) shall be eligible for a deferment during— 22 ‘‘(1) any period in which such borrower is an 23 employee— 24 ‘‘(A) of a Federal agency that is subject to 25 a lapse in discretionary appropriations; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H781.IH H781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 781 IH ‘‘(B) of a private entity that has a contract 1 with a Federal agency subject to a lapse in dis- 2 cretionary appropriations who is not paid dur- 3 ing such period due to such lapse in discre- 4 tionary appropriations; 5 ‘‘(C) who is an employee of a State or 6 other Federal grantee— 7 ‘‘(i) whose compensation is advanced 8 or reimbursed in whole or in part by the 9 Federal Government, and 10 ‘‘(ii) who is furloughed due to a lapse 11 in Federal discretionary appropriations; or 12 ‘‘(D) who is furloughed due to a lapse in 13 Federal discretionary appropriations as an em- 14 ployee of the District of Columbia Courts, the 15 Public Defender Service for the District of Co- 16 lumbia, or the District of Columbia government; 17 and 18 ‘‘(2) the 3 months after the date on which the 19 lapse in discretionary appropriations described in 20 subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1) ap- 21 plicable to such employee has ended.’’. 22 (b) EFFECT OF SHUTDOWN DEFERMENT ON PUBLIC 23 SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS.—Section 455(m) of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H781.IH H781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 781 IH Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is 1 amended by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT OF MISSED MONTHLY PAY- 3 MENTS DURING SPECIAL DEFERMENT.—For pur- 4 poses of calculating the 120 monthly payments on 5 an eligible Federal Direct Loan under paragraph 6 (1)(A), the Secretary shall treat an unpaid payment 7 on a loan under a repayment plan described in 8 clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph (1)(A) that oc- 9 curs during a deferment under section 493E as if 10 such monthly payment was made on the loan.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H781.IH H781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS