What You Can Do For Your Country Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1203 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the public service loan forgiveness program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 11, 2019 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. KAINE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CASEY, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the public service loan forgiveness program, 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 ‘‘What You Can Do 4 For Your Country Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FOR- 6 GIVENESS PROGRAM. 7 (a) PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1203 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(m) of the High- 1 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is 2 amended to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(m) LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FEDERAL STUDENT 4 LOAN BORROWERS EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC SERVICE.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 6 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT.— 7 The term ‘certification of employment’ means a 8 certification of employment under paragraph 9 (4). 10 ‘‘(B) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘full-time’, 11 when used with respect to employment, means 12 employment— 13 ‘‘(i) with a qualifying employer for not 14 less than 30 hours per week; or 15 ‘‘(ii) with 2 or more qualifying em- 16 ployers for a total of not less than 30 17 hours per week. 18 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING EMPLOYER.—The term 19 ‘qualifying employer’ means— 20 ‘‘(i) a Federal, State, local, or Tribal 21 government organization or instrumen- 22 tality, including any organization estab- 23 lished in law as a body politic; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(ii) an organization that is described 1 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev- 2 enue Code of 1986, and exempt from tax- 3 ation under section 501(a) of such Code; 4 or 5 ‘‘(iii) an organization— 6 ‘‘(I) not described in clause (ii) 7 that is a not-for-profit organization 8 under other Federal or State law; 9 ‘‘(II) that is not a labor organi- 10 zation or partisan political organiza- 11 tion; and 12 ‘‘(III) whose purpose is to di- 13 rectly provide any of the following 14 services, as defined in regulations pro- 15 mulgated the Secretary: 16 ‘‘(aa) Emergency manage- 17 ment and disaster response. 18 ‘‘(bb) Military service. 19 ‘‘(cc) Public safety services, 20 including fire prevention and 21 suppression, rescue services, haz- 22 ardous materials response, ambu- 23 lance services, and emergency 24 medical services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(dd) Law enforcement. 1 ‘‘(ee) Public health, includ- 2 ing service through organizations 3 that employ nurses, nurse practi- 4 tioners, nurses in a clinical set- 5 ting, or professionals engaged in 6 health care practitioner occupa- 7 tions and health care support oc- 8 cupations, as such terms are de- 9 fined by the Bureau of Labor 10 Statistics. 11 ‘‘(ff) Public education, in- 12 cluding the provision of edu- 13 cational enrichment or support 14 directly to students or their fami- 15 lies, employment with a Tribal 16 College or University (as defined 17 in section 316(b)), and employ- 18 ment as an adjunct faculty mem- 19 ber or instructor for an edu- 20 cational institution. 21 ‘‘(gg) Public interest law 22 services, including prosecution or 23 public defense or legal advocacy 24 on behalf of low-income commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1203 IS nities at a not-for-profit organi- 1 zation. 2 ‘‘(hh) Early childhood edu- 3 cation, including licensed or regu- 4 lated childcare, Head Start pro- 5 grams, and State funded pre- 6 kindergarten. 7 ‘‘(ii) Public service for indi- 8 viduals with disabilities. 9 ‘‘(jj) Public service for the 10 elderly. 11 ‘‘(kk) Public and school- 12 based library sciences. 13 ‘‘(ll) School-based services, 14 including the provision of non- 15 educational enrichment or sup- 16 port directly to students or their 17 families. 18 ‘‘(mm) Social work, includ- 19 ing child or family services. 20 ‘‘(D) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OB- 21 LIGATION.—The term ‘qualifying monthly pay- 22 ment obligation’ means a monthly payment obli- 23 gation due on a loan under the repayment plan 24 of the borrower— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(i) that was satisfied by the borrower 1 through a payment made after October 1, 2 2007; and 3 ‘‘(ii) attributable to a period during 4 which the borrower was employed full-time 5 by a qualifying employer. 6 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on July 1, 2019, 7 the Secretary shall forgive the applicable percentage 8 described in paragraph (3) of the balance of prin- 9 cipal and interest due on a loan made under this 10 part for a borrower who has satisfied 60 or 120 11 qualifying monthly payment obligations on a loan 12 made under this part and submitted any certifi- 13 cation of employment required under this subsection. 14 ‘‘(3) LOAN FORGIVENESS AFTER 60 PAYMENT 15 OBLIGATIONS AND 120 PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 16 The applicable percentages under this paragraph 17 shall be— 18 ‘‘(A) in the case of a borrower who satis- 19 fies 60 qualifying monthly payment obligations 20 on a loan made under this part that is not in 21 default (as defined in section 435), 50 percent 22 of the total amount of the balance of principal 23 and interest due on such loan as of the date of 24 the loan forgiveness; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(B) in the case of a borrower who satis- 1 fies 120 qualifying monthly payment obligations 2 on a loan made under this part that is not in 3 default, 100 percent of the balance of principal 4 and interest due on such loan as of the date of 5 the loan forgiveness. 6 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT RE- 7 QUIREMENTS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive 9 loan forgiveness under this subsection, a bor- 10 rower of a loan made under this part shall sub- 11 mit to the Secretary a certification of employ- 12 ment. 13 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF CERTIFICATION.—The 14 Secretary shall— 15 ‘‘(i) develop, and make easily acces- 16 sible, the certification of employment; and 17 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the method of certifi- 18 cation— 19 ‘‘(I) allows for the employer to 20 indicate and certify the dates of the 21 borrower’s employment; and 22 ‘‘(II) provides electronic signa- 23 ture options for the employer and for 24 the borrower. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(C) BORROWER ACCESS.—The Secretary 1 shall ensure that a borrower may submit a cer- 2 tification of employment to the Secretary elec- 3 tronically through any information system 4 through which the Secretary permits borrowers 5 to take self-service actions with respect to their 6 loans. 7 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTION FOR SELF-CERTIFI- 8 CATION.—The Secretary shall provide a self- 9 certification option for the certification of em- 10 ployment for borrowers who have extenuating 11 circumstances preventing the borrowers from 12 obtaining the qualifying employer signature and 13 certification required under subparagraph 14 (B)(ii), as determined by the Secretary pursu- 15 ant to rulemaking and including situations 16 where an employer is no longer in existence or 17 refuses to cooperate. 18 ‘‘(E) PERIODIC REVIEW OF CERTIFICATION 19 OF EMPLOYMENT.—For each borrower of a loan 20 made under this part who has submitted a cer- 21 tification of employment, the Secretary shall— 22 ‘‘(i) by not later than 30 days after 23 receipt of the certification of employ- 24 ment— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(I) review the certification of 1 employment and determine the num- 2 ber of qualifying monthly payment ob- 3 ligations satisfied on the loan during 4 the period of employment covered by 5 the certification of employment; 6 ‘‘(II) inform the borrower of the 7 number of qualifying monthly pay- 8 ment obligations satisfied; and 9 ‘‘(III) inform the borrower of the 10 number of remaining qualifying 11 monthly payment obligations to be 12 satisfied in order for the borrower to 13 receive partial loan forgiveness under 14 paragraph (3)(A), and such number 15 needed to receive full loan forgiveness 16 under paragraph (3)(B); and 17 ‘‘(ii) periodically, but not less than 18 twice annually, notify the borrower, using 19 the most recent calculation of qualifying 20 monthly payment obligations, of— 21 ‘‘(I) the number of qualifying 22 monthly payment obligations satisfied, 23 as of the date of the notice; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(II) the number of remaining 1 qualifying monthly payment obliga- 2 tions to be satisfied in order for the 3 borrower to receive partial loan for- 4 giveness under paragraph (3)(A), and 5 such number needed to receive full 6 loan forgiveness under paragraph 7 (3)(B); 8 ‘‘(III) any steps the borrower can 9 take to convert non-qualifying month- 10 ly payment obligations into qualifying 11 monthly payment obligations, includ- 12 ing the options to provide payments to 13 satisfy monthly payment obligations 14 for past public service under para- 15 graph (5)(C); and 16 ‘‘(IV) the dispute resolution proc- 17 ess for the Secretary’s determination 18 of qualifying monthly payment obliga- 19 tions, as described in paragraph (7). 20 ‘‘(5) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OBLIGA- 21 TIONS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 23 subsection, the number of qualifying monthly 24 payment obligations satisfied on a loan is the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1203 IS number of monthly payments, during the period 1 of employment and based on the repayment 2 plan selected by the borrower for such period, 3 that would be satisfied based on applying the 4 total amount of payments made by the bor- 5 rower on the loan at any time during such pe- 6 riod. 7 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF PAYMENT OBLIGA- 8 TION STATUS.— 9 ‘‘(i) HOLD HARMLESS AGAINST RET- 10 ROACTIVE DETERMINATIONS.—If the Sec- 11 retary has classified a payment obligation 12 satisfied by a borrower of a loan made 13 under this part as a qualifying monthly 14 payment obligation and later determines 15 that the payment obligation does not qual- 16 ify, the Secretary shall deem the payment 17 obligation to be a qualifying monthly pay- 18 ment obligation to be counted for purposes 19 of paragraph (2). 20 ‘‘(ii) EXPLANATION OF NON-QUALI- 21 FYING PAYMENT OBLIGATION DETERMINA- 22 TIONS.—If the Secretary determines that 23 payments made by a borrower of a loan 24 made under this part for a period of full- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1203 IS time employment with a qualifying em- 1 ployer cannot be applied toward the total 2 number of qualifying monthly payment ob- 3 ligations for purposes of paragraph (2), 4 the Secretary shall provide a borrower with 5 an explanation and allow the borrower to 6 correct the reason for such determination, 7 to the extent possible. Such borrower reme- 8 diation shall include, at a minimum, pro- 9 viding a borrower with the opportunity to 10 reimburse the Secretary for any under- 11 payment. 12 ‘‘(C) SATISFYING PREVIOUSLY NON-QUALI- 13 FYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A borrower of a 15 loan made under this part who has a pe- 16 riod during which the borrower was em- 17 ployed full-time with a qualifying employer 18 but did not satisfy one or more qualifying 19 monthly payment obligations during such 20 period, such as a borrower who was in 21 deferment or forbearance, may satisfy one 22 or more monthly payment obligations of 23 that period at a later date by paying the 24 additional amount needed to satisfy the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1203 IS qualifying monthly payment obligation, in 1 accordance with a process established by 2 the Secretary. 3 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION PROCESS.—The 4 amount of past monthly payment obliga- 5 tions satisfied by a payment under this 6 subparagraph for a period of employment 7 shall be determined using the amount of 8 the borrower’s monthly payment, based on 9 any repayment plan, as selected by the 10 borrower, that could have been selected by 11 the borrower during such period. The Sec- 12 retary may require a borrower wishing to 13 satisfy past monthly payment obligations 14 under this subparagraph to submit any ad- 15 ditional information necessary to calculate 16 the amount of the past payments. 17 ‘‘(iii) LIMIT.—A borrower may not 18 satisfy more than 36 past monthly pay- 19 ment obligations under this subparagraph. 20 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO FEDERAL 21 DIRECT CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 22 ‘‘(A) REVIEW OF ANY NEW CONSOLIDA- 23 TION LOAN APPLICATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1203 IS ‘‘(i) PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVE- 1 NESS OPTION ON CONSOLIDATION APPLICA- 2 TION.—Beginning on July 1, 2019, the 3 Secretary shall include, in any application 4 for a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]