Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1346 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year to carry out the simplification of applications for the estimation and deter- mination of financial aid eligibility, to increase the income threshold to qualify for a student aid index equal to or less than zero, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 7, 2019 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year to carry out the simplification of applications for the estimation and determination of financial aid eligibility, to increase the income threshold to qualify for a student aid index equal to or less than zero, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1346 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Simplifying Financial 2 Aid for Students Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. REFERENCES; GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE. 4 (a) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 5 provided, whenever in this Act there is a reference to, or 6 an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an 7 amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other provision, 8 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section 9 or other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 10 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 11 (b) GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as other- 12 wise provided in this Act or the amendments made by this 13 Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 14 be effective with respect to determinations of need under 15 part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 16 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for the award year beginning 17 July 1, 2020. 18 SEC. 3. EARLY ESTIMATES OF AVAILABLE AID. 19 Section 483(a) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)) is amended by 20 adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(13) EVALUATION OF EARLY ESTIMATE 22 TOOLS.—Not later than the award year beginning 23 July 1, 2020, the Secretary shall— 24 ‘‘(A) evaluate any early estimate tools au- 25 thorized under paragraph (9); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1346 IS ‘‘(B) identify and implement opportunities 1 to streamline those tools to align with the provi- 2 sions under part F.’’. 3 SEC. 4. STUDENT AID INDEX. 4 (a) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Act (20 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘an expected family contribu- 7 tion’’ each place the term appears and inserting ‘‘a 8 student aid index’’; 9 (2) by striking ‘‘expected family contributions’’ 10 each place the term appears and inserting ‘‘student 11 aid indexes’’; 12 (3) by striking ‘‘expected family contribution’’ 13 each place the term appears and inserting ‘‘student 14 aid index’’; 15 (4) in section 474— 16 (A) in the section heading, by striking 17 ‘‘EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ and 18 inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; and 19 (B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by 20 striking ‘‘EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ 21 and inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; 22 (5) in section 475— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1346 IS (A) in the section heading, by striking 1 ‘‘FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; and 3 (B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by 4 striking ‘‘EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; 6 (6) in section 476— 7 (A) in the section heading, by striking 8 ‘‘FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; and 10 (B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by 11 striking ‘‘EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; 13 (7) in section 477— 14 (A) in the section heading, by striking 15 ‘‘FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; and 17 (B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by 18 striking ‘‘EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX’’; 20 (8) by striking ‘‘family contribution’’ each place 21 the term appears and inserting ‘‘student aid index’’; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1346 IS (9) by striking ‘‘family contributions’’ each 1 place the term appears and inserting ‘‘student aid 2 indexes’’. 3 (b) CALCULATION OF NEGATIVE STUDENT AID 4 INDEX.—The Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) in section 475— 6 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘re- 7 quested;’’ and all that follows through the pe- 8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘requested.’’; and 9 (B) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘para- 10 graph (5);’’ and all that follows through the pe- 11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘paragraph (5).’’; 12 (2) in section 476(a), by striking ‘‘enrollment;’’ 13 and all that follows through the period at the end 14 and inserting ‘‘enrollment.’’; 15 (3) in section 477(a), by striking ‘‘enrollment;’’ 16 and all that follows through the period at the end 17 and inserting ‘‘enrollment.’’; and 18 (4) in section 479(a)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘whose 19 student aid index would otherwise be a positive num- 20 ber using only the elements of the simplified needs 21 test under subsection (b)(2),’’ after ‘‘requirements of 22 subsection (c),’’. 23 (c) NEGATIVE STUDENT AID INDEX.—Section 471 24 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk) is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1346 IS ‘‘SEC. 471. AMOUNT OF NEED. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The maximum dollar amount of 2 financial assistance provided under this title to a student 3 shall not exceed the cost of attendance for such student. 4 ‘‘(b) NEGATIVE STUDENT AID INDEX.—For pur- 5 poses of determining eligibility for Federal financial aid 6 under this part, any negative student aid index shall be 7 treated as zero.’’. 8 SEC. 5. CALCULATION OF STUDENT AID INDEX. 9 (a) STUDENT AID INDEX.—Section 473 (20 U.S.C. 10 1087mm) is amended— 11 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘FAM- 12 ILY CONTRIBUTION’’ and inserting ‘‘STUDENT 13 AID INDEX’’; and 14 (2) in subsection (b)— 15 (A) by striking the subsection heading and 16 inserting ‘‘STUDENT AID INDEX EQUAL TO OR 17 LESS THAN ZERO’’; 18 (B) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘or (3)’’ 19 after ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; 20 (C) in paragraph (2)— 21 (i) by striking the paragraph heading 22 and inserting ‘‘CHILDREN OF CERTAIN DE- 23 CEASED VETERANS’’; 24 (ii) in each of subparagraphs (B) and 25 (C), by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1346 IS subclauses (I) and (II), respectively and 1 adjusting the margins accordingly; 2 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 3 (A), (B), and (C), as clauses (i), (ii), and 4 (iii), respectively; and 5 (iv) by striking ‘‘Paragraph (1) shall’’ 6 and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(A) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) 8 shall’’; 9 (D) in paragraph (3)— 10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 11 ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B)(i), and (C) of 12 paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i), 13 (ii)(I), and (iii) of subparagraph (A)’’; and 14 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 15 (I) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs 16 (A), (B)(ii), and (C) of paragraph 17 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i), (ii)(II), 18 and (iii) of subparagraph (A)’’; 19 (II) by redesignating clauses (i) 20 through (iii) as subclauses (I) through 21 (III), respectively, and adjusting the 22 margins accordingly; and 23 (III) by redesignating subpara- 24 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1346 IS (ii), respectively, and adjusting the 1 margins accordingly; 2 (E) by redesignating paragraph (3) as sub- 3 paragraph (B) of paragraph (2), and adjusting 4 the margins accordingly; 5 (F) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 6 (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 7 (G) by inserting after paragraph (2)(B), as 8 redesignated by subparagraph (E), the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(3) RECIPIENTS OF CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED 11 BENEFITS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 13 apply to a student if— 14 ‘‘(i) that student is a dependent stu- 15 dent whose parent participated in a means- 16 tested benefits program at any time during 17 the period encompassed from the beginning 18 of the second prior calendar year through 19 the date of filing; or 20 ‘‘(ii) that student is independent and 21 the student or spouse of that student par- 22 ticipated in a means-tested benefits pro- 23 gram at any time during the period encom- 24 passed from the beginning of the second 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1346 IS prior calendar year through the date of fil- 1 ing. 2 ‘‘(B) MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS PRO- 3 GRAM.—In this paragraph, the term ‘means- 4 tested Federal benefits program’ means— 5 ‘‘(i) the supplemental security income 6 program under title XVI of the Social Se- 7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 8 ‘‘(ii) the supplemental nutrition assist- 9 ance program established under the Food 10 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 11 et seq.); 12 ‘‘(iii) the Medicaid program under 13 title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); 15 ‘‘(iv) the free and reduced price school 16 lunch program established under the Rich- 17 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 18 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 19 ‘‘(v) a State program funded under 20 the temporary assistance for needy families 21 program under part A of title IV of the 22 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 23 seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1346 IS ‘‘(vi) the special supplemental nutri- 1 tion program for women, infants, and chil- 2 dren established by section 17 of the Child 3 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 4 and 5 ‘‘(vii) any other program determined 6 by the Secretary to be appropriate based 7 on— 8 ‘‘(I) the reliability under which 9 the need for benefits from the pro- 10 gram is established; and 11 ‘‘(II) the feasibility of data link- 12 ages. 13 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATION FOR STATE AND INSTI- 14 TUTIONAL AID.—For each student whose student aid 15 index is deemed to be zero under paragraph (1), the 16 Secretary shall also calculate the student aid index 17 for the student, using the simplified version of the 18 Free Application for Federal Student Aid form in 19 accordance with section 479, to identify students 20 who have a negative student aid index and may be 21 eligible for additional State or institutional aid.’’. 22 (b) SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST.—Section 479 (20 23 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1346 IS ‘‘SEC. 479. SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TESTS. 1 ‘‘(a) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION SECTION.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 3 and use a simplified version of the Free Application 4 for Federal Student Aid form prescribed under sec- 5 tion 483(a) for families described in subsections (b) 6 and (c) of this section. 7 ‘‘(2) REDUCED DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The 8 simplified version shall— 9 ‘‘(A) in the case of a family meeting the 10 requirements of subsection (b)(1), permit such 11 family to submit only the data elements re- 12 quired under subsection (b)(2) for the purposes 13 of establishing eligibility for student financial 14 aid under this part; and 15 ‘‘(B) in the case of a family meeting the 16 requirements of subsection (c), permit such 17 family to be treated as having a student aid 18 index equal to or less than zero for purposes of 19 establishing such eligibility and to submit only 20 the data elements required to make a deter- 21 mination under subsection (c). 22 ‘‘(b) SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST.— 23 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—An applicant is eligible to 24 file a simplified version containing the elements re- 25 quired by paragraph (2) if— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1346 IS ‘‘(A) in the case of an applicant who is a 1 dependent student— 2 ‘‘(i) the student’s parents include at 3 least one parent who is a dislocated work- 4 er; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the total adjusted gross income 6 of the parents (excluding any income of 7 the dependent student) is less than 8 $50,000; or 9 ‘‘(B) in the case of an applicant who is an 10 independent student— 11 ‘‘(i) the student (and the student’s 12 spouse, if any) is a dislocated worker or 13 has a spouse who is a dislocated worker; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) the adjusted gross income of the 16 student (and the student’s spouse, if any) 17 is less than $50,000. 18 ‘‘(2) SIMPLIFIED TEST ELEMENTS.—The six 19 elements to be used for the simplified needs analysis 20 are— 21 ‘‘(A) adjusted gross income, 22 ‘‘(B) Federal taxes paid, 23 ‘‘(C) untaxed income and benefits, 24 ‘‘(D) the number of family members, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1346.IS S1346 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1346 IS ‘‘(E) the number of family members in 1 postsecondary education, and 2 ‘‘(F) an allowance (A) for State and other 3 taxes, as defined in section 475(c)(2) for de- 4 pendent students and in section 477(b)(2) for 5 independent students with dependents other 6 than a spouse, or (B) for State and other in- 7 come taxes, as defined in section 476(b)(2) for 8 independent students without dependents other 9 than a spouse. 10 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING FORMS.—In the case of an 11 independent student, the student, or in the case of 12 a depende [Text truncated for display. 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