II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1175 To improve the public service loan forgiveness program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 11, 2019 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To improve the public service loan forgiveness program. 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 ‘‘PSLF Technical Cor- 4 rections Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 6 1965. 7 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 10 (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1175.IS S1175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1175 IS (2) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 2 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’; and 4 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 5 (i) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 6 after the semicolon; 7 (ii) by striking clause (iii); and 8 (iii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 9 clause (iii); 10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS IN GRADUATED OR EXTENDED 13 PLANS.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to can- 15 celing the balance of interest and principal due 16 for a borrower described in paragraph (1), the 17 Secretary shall also cancel the balance of inter- 18 est and principal due, in accordance with para- 19 graph (3), on any eligible Federal Direct Loan 20 not in default for a borrower who— 21 ‘‘(i) has made 120 qualifying monthly 22 payments, as defined in subparagraph (B), 23 on the eligible Federal Direct Loan after 24 October 1, 2007; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1175.IS S1175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1175 IS ‘‘(ii) is employed in a public service 1 job at the time of such forgiveness; and 2 ‘‘(iii) has been employed in a public 3 service job during the period in which the 4 borrower makes each of the 120 payments 5 described in clause (i). 6 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT.— 7 In this paragraph, the term ‘qualifying monthly 8 payment’ means any payment made under any 9 repayment plan that is not described in clause 10 (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) that satis- 11 fied the monthly amount the borrower was re- 12 quired to pay at the time the monthly amount 13 due was billed to the borrower.’’; 14 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para- 15 graph (1), by inserting ‘‘or paragraph (2), as the 16 case may be’’ after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 17 (5) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(6) DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS.—Not 19 later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary shall establish 20 a process for borrowers to dispute the calculation of 21 the number of monthly payments under paragraph 22 (1) or (2) that count toward loan forgiveness under 23 this subsection following the borrower’s submission 24 of a certification of employment or application for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1175.IS S1175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1175 IS forgiveness (or any successor certification or applica- 1 tion) under this subsection. 2 ‘‘(7) RECALCULATING THE NUMBER OF QUALI- 3 FYING PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS FOR CURRENT PUB- 4 LIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM PARTICI- 5 PANTS.—Not later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary 6 shall, for each borrower that has submitted a certifi- 7 cation of employment under this subsection before 8 July 1, 2019— 9 ‘‘(A) calculate the number of monthly pay- 10 ments under paragraph (1) or (2) that count 11 toward loan forgiveness under this subsection, 12 using the criteria under this subsection as in ef- 13 fect on July 1, 2019; and 14 ‘‘(B) inform the borrower of the changes to 15 the public service loan forgiveness program 16 under this subsection that take effect on or be- 17 fore July 1, 2019, and the number of monthly 18 payments calculated for the borrower in accord- 19 ance with subparagraph (A).’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1175.IS S1175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS