Consider Teachers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3926 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 23, 2019 Mr. VISCLOSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, 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 ‘‘Consider Teachers 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TEACH GRANT. 6 (a) AGREEMENTS TO SERVE.—Section 420N(b) of 7 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(b) 8 is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3926 IH (1) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ‘‘upon 1 completion’’ and inserting ‘‘by not later than Octo- 2 ber 31 after completion’’; and 3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘failed or re- 4 fused to carry out such service obligation’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘not completed the applicant’s service obliga- 6 tion within the 8-year period described in paragraph 7 (1)(A) or the applicant withdraws from such service 8 obligation’’. 9 (b) REPAYMENT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE SERV- 10 ICE.—Section 420N(c) of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(c) is amended to read as fol- 12 lows: 13 ‘‘(c) REPAYMENT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE 14 SERVICE.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that the Sec- 16 retary determines that any recipient of a grant 17 under this subpart has not completed the recipient’s 18 service obligation under subsection (b) or has with- 19 drawn from such service obligation, the sum of the 20 amounts of any TEACH Grants received by such re- 21 cipient shall, upon such a determination, be treated 22 as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 23 under part D, and shall be subject to repayment, to- 24 gether with interest thereon accruing from the date 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3926 IH of the grant award, in accordance with terms and 1 conditions specified by the Secretary in regulations 2 under this subpart. 3 ‘‘(2) RECONSIDERATION OF LOAN TREAT- 4 MENT.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the event that the 6 Secretary has made a determination under 7 paragraph (1) with respect to a recipient of a 8 grant under this subpart that results in such 9 grant being treated as a Federal Direct Unsub- 10 sidized Stafford Loan under part D— 11 ‘‘(i) upon request of such recipient, 12 the Secretary shall reconsider the deter- 13 mination; and 14 ‘‘(ii) such recipient may submit to the 15 Secretary additional information to dem- 16 onstrate that— 17 ‘‘(I) the recipient has completed 18 the service obligation within the 8- 19 year period described in subsection 20 (b)(1)(A); or 21 ‘‘(II) the 8-year period for com- 22 pletion of such service obligation has 23 not yet expired. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3926 IH ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF RECONSIDERATION.— 1 If, in reconsidering a determination under sub- 2 paragraph (A), the Secretary determines that 3 the recipient has, as of the date of the reconsid- 4 eration, demonstrated that the recipient has 5 completed the service obligation within the 8- 6 year period described in subsection (b)(1)(A), 7 or that the 8-year period for completion of such 8 service obligation has not yet expired, the Sec- 9 retary shall— 10 ‘‘(i) cancel the amount of principal, 11 interest accrued, or any fees that are out- 12 standing on the Federal Direct Unsub- 13 sidized Stafford Loan made to the recipi- 14 ent under this subpart, reinstate the recipi- 15 ent’s grant under this subpart, and extend 16 the 8-year service period described in sub- 17 section (b)(1)(A) by an amount equal to 18 the period during which such grant was 19 treated as such loan; 20 ‘‘(ii) if the recipient has an out- 21 standing obligation on another loan made 22 under part D, apply any payments made 23 on such Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf- 24 ford Loan toward such other loan, and in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3926 IH a case in which the recipient has an out- 1 standing obligation on multiple loans made 2 under part D, enable the borrower to de- 3 termine how such payments shall be ap- 4 plied toward such loans; 5 ‘‘(iii) if the recipient does not have an 6 outstanding obligation on any other loan 7 made under part D, reimburse the recipi- 8 ent for any amounts paid on such Federal 9 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan; and 10 ‘‘(iv) count any period of service of 11 the recipient that meets the requirements 12 of subsection (b)(1) and that was com- 13 pleted while the grant was being treated as 14 such Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 15 Loan, toward the recipient’s service obliga- 16 tion under subsection (b)(1). 17 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 18 in this paragraph shall be construed to mean 19 that the service obligation under this subpart is 20 waived.’’. 21 (c) COMMUNICATION WITH RECIPIENTS.—Section 22 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 23 1070g–2(d) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3926 IH ‘‘(3) COMMUNICATION WITH RECIPIENTS.—Not 1 later than October 5 of each year, the Secretary 2 shall notify each recipient of a grant under this sub- 3 part of the following: 4 ‘‘(A) The terms and conditions the recipi- 5 ent must continue to meet to satisfy their serv- 6 ice obligation in the agreement under sub- 7 section (b). 8 ‘‘(B) The requirement and means for the 9 recipient to provide evidence of qualified em- 10 ployment to the Secretary described under sub- 11 section (b)(1)(D). 12 ‘‘(C) The amount of service the Secretary 13 has counted towards the recipients’ service obli- 14 gation in the agreement under subsection (b). 15 ‘‘(D) The period remaining for the recipi- 16 ent to complete the recipient’s service obligation 17 in the agreement under subsection (b). 18 ‘‘(E) The conditions under which the Sec- 19 retary will treat a TEACH Grant as a loan 20 under subsection (c)(1). 21 ‘‘(F) The amount of interest that may ac- 22 crue and that the recipient will be required to 23 pay if such grant is treated as a loan under 24 subsection (c)(1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3926 IH ‘‘(G) The process under which the recipi- 1 ent may contact the Secretary to request a re- 2 consideration under subsection (c)(2). 3 ‘‘(H) The process under which a recipient 4 may request to have a portion of the recipient’s 5 service obligation excused pursuant to sub- 6 section (d)(2). 7 ‘‘(I) The process under which a recipient 8 may request to withdraw from the recipient’s 9 service obligation under subsection (b).’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS