Strengthening Loan Forgiveness for Public Servants Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3096 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2019 Mr. SWALWELL of California (for himself, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Penn- sylvania, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. WELCH, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. RUSH, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. SOTO, Mr. RYAN, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. DELBENE, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Loan 4 Forgiveness for Public Servants Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3096.IH H3096 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3096 IH SEC. 2. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM. 1 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 4 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, except as provided 5 in paragraph (5),’’ after ‘‘on any eligible Federal Di- 6 rect Loan not in default’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(5) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR NEW LOANS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning after the 10 date of enactment of the Strengthening Loan 11 Forgiveness for Public Servants Act, after the 12 conclusion of each employment period in a pub- 13 lic service job, as described in subparagraph 14 (B), the Secretary shall cancel the percent spec- 15 ified in such subparagraph of the total amount 16 due on any eligible Federal Direct Loan made 17 after the date of enactment of the Strength- 18 ening Loan Forgiveness for Public Servants Act 19 for a borrower who is employed in such public 20 service job and submits an employment certifi- 21 cation form described in subparagraph (C). 22 ‘‘(B) PERCENT AMOUNT.—The percent of 23 a loan that shall be canceled under subpara- 24 graph (A) is as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3096.IH H3096 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3096 IH ‘‘(i) In the case of a borrower who 1 completes 2 years of employment in a pub- 2 lic service job, 15 percent of the total 3 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 4 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 5 employment in such public service job. 6 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a borrower who 7 completes 4 years of employment in a pub- 8 lic service job, 15 percent of the total 9 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 10 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 11 employment in such public service job. 12 ‘‘(iii) In the case of a borrower who 13 completes 6 years of employment in a pub- 14 lic service job, 20 percent of the total 15 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 16 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 17 employment in such public service job. 18 ‘‘(iv) In the case of a borrower who 19 completes 8 years of employment in a pub- 20 lic service job, 20 percent of the total 21 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 22 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 23 employment in such public service job. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3096.IH H3096 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3096 IH ‘‘(v) In the case of a borrower who 1 completes 10 years of employment in a 2 public service job, 30 percent of the total 3 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 4 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 5 employment in such public service job. 6 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION 7 FORM.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive 9 loan cancellation under this paragraph, a 10 borrower shall submit to the Secretary an 11 employment certification form that is de- 12 veloped by the Secretary and includes self- 13 certification of employment and a separate 14 part for employer certification that indi- 15 cates the dates of employment. 16 ‘‘(ii) DEFERMENT.—If a borrower 17 submits to the Secretary the employment 18 certification form described in clause (i), 19 during the period in which the borrower is 20 employed in a public service job for which 21 loan cancellation is eligible under this 22 paragraph, the borrower’s eligible Federal 23 Direct Loan shall be placed in deferment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3096.IH H3096 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3096 IH ‘‘(D) INTEREST CANCELED.—If a portion 1 of a loan is canceled under this paragraph for 2 any year, the entire amount of interest on such 3 loan that accrues for such year shall be can- 4 celed.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3096.IH H3096 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS