FREED Vets Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3598 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 11, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to automati- cally discharge the loans of certain veteran borrowers, 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 22:08 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3598.RFS H3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3598 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federally Requiring 2 Earned Education-debt Discharges for Vets Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘FREED Vets Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC LOAN DISCHARGE FOR CERTAIN VET- 5 ERAN BORROWERS. 6 Section 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 7 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)) is amended— 8 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(2) DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS.—With re- 11 spect to a borrower who has been identified under 12 clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (4)(A), the Secretary 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(A) consider the borrower permanently 15 and totally disabled for the purpose of dis- 16 charging the loans of the borrower under this 17 subsection; 18 ‘‘(B)(i) notify the borrower of the intent of 19 the Secretary to discharge the loans of the bor- 20 rower under this subsection; and 21 ‘‘(ii) only if section 108(f)(5) of the Inter- 22 nal Revenue Code of 1986 does not apply to 23 such a loan discharge for the calendar year, in- 24 clude as part of such notice a statement inform- 25 ing the borrower that such loan discharge may 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3598.RFS H3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3598 RFS be includible in the gross income of the bor- 1 rower for purposes of such Code; 2 ‘‘(C) provide the borrower with an oppor- 3 tunity to opt-out of such loan discharge during 4 the 60 day period beginning on the date on 5 which the Secretary transmits the notice re- 6 quired under subparagraph (B) to the borrower; 7 and 8 ‘‘(D) after the expiration of such period, 9 discharge the loans of the borrower under this 10 subsection, without any further action by the 11 borrower (except that this subparagraph shall 12 not apply to a borrower who opts out of such 13 discharge under subparagraph (C)).’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(4) MATCHING PROGRAM.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less than twice 17 per year, the Secretary of Education and the 18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a 19 computer matching program under which the 20 Secretary of Education identifies a borrower— 21 ‘‘(i) who has been assigned a rating of 22 total disability by the Secretary of Vet- 23 erans Affairs for a service-connected dis- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3598.RFS H3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3598 RFS ability (as defined in section 101 of title 1 38, United States Code); or 2 ‘‘(ii) who has been determined by the 3 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be unem- 4 ployable due to a service-connected condi- 5 tion. 6 ‘‘(B) MINOR DISCREPANCIES.—With re- 7 spect to each borrower who would have been 8 identified under clause (i) or (ii) of subpara- 9 graph (A) but for a minor discrepancy between 10 the information of the borrower maintained by 11 the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of 12 Veterans Affairs (such as a name discrepancy 13 post-marriage, a missing hyphen, a transposed 14 number or letter, or other typo), the Secretary 15 of Education and the Secretary of Veterans Af- 16 fairs shall work together to correct such minor 17 discrepancy of such borrower.’’. 18 Passed the House of Representatives March 10, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3598.RFS H3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS