I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4113 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 JULY 30, 2019 Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma 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 ‘‘Public Service Pays 4 Off Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM. 6 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 7 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4113 IH (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 1 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or paragraph (5), 2 as applicable,’’ after ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; 3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘After’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (5), 5 after’’; and 6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(5) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR PARTIAL SERV- 8 ICE.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para- 10 graph (2), beginning on the date of enactment 11 of the Public Service Pays Off Act, the Sec- 12 retary shall cancel the obligation to repay the 13 balance of principal and interest due on the eli- 14 gible Federal Direct Loans made to a borrower 15 under this part in accordance with this para- 16 graph. 17 ‘‘(B) NEW MONTHLY PAYMENTS.—For a 18 borrower of an eligible Federal Direct Loan 19 who begins making qualifying monthly pay- 20 ments under paragraph (1) on or after the date 21 of enactment of the Public Service Pays Off Act 22 and who is employed in a public service job and 23 submits an employment certification form de- 24 scribed in clause (F), the Secretary shall cancel, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4113 IH after the conclusion of each employment period 1 in such public service job, as described in clause 2 (D)— 3 ‘‘(i) the percent specified in such sub- 4 clause (D) of the total amount due on the 5 eligible Federal Direct Loans made to the 6 borrower under this part, based on the 7 length of such employment period; and 8 ‘‘(ii) the applicable amount of interest 9 that accrued during such employment pe- 10 riod, in accordance with subclause (E). 11 ‘‘(C) PRIOR MONTHLY PAYMENTS.— 12 ‘‘(i) ELECTION.—A borrower of an el- 13 igible Federal Direct Loan who has made 14 one or more monthly payments under 15 paragraph (1) before the date of enact- 16 ment of the Public Service Pays Off Act 17 and who is employed in a public service job 18 may elect to have the Secretary cancel 19 such eligible Federal Direct Loan through 20 partial repayments after completion of 21 each employment period in accordance with 22 this paragraph (including submission of an 23 employment certification form described in 24 clause (F)), or in full after the completion 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4113 IH of the required employment period and 120 1 monthly payments in accordance with 2 paragraph (2). 3 ‘‘(ii) NO DOUBLE CANCELLATION.—A 4 borrower shall not have eligible Federal Di- 5 rect Loans cancelled under both paragraph 6 (2) and this paragraph, but a borrower 7 who was determined to be ineligible for 8 cancellation under paragraph (2) before 9 the date of enactment of the Public Service 10 Pays Off Act may submit an employment 11 certification form described in clause (F) 12 and request cancellation for a public serv- 13 ice job under this paragraph. 14 ‘‘(D) PERCENT AMOUNT.—The percent of 15 a loan that shall be canceled under this para- 16 graph for an employment period is as follows: 17 ‘‘(i) In the case of a borrower who 18 completes 2 years of employment in a pub- 19 lic service job, 15 percent of the total 20 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 21 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 22 employment in such public service job. 23 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a borrower who 24 completes 4 years of employment in a pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4113 IH lic service job, 15 percent of the total 1 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 2 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 3 employment in such public service job. 4 ‘‘(iii) In the case of a borrower who 5 completes 6 years of employment in a pub- 6 lic service job, 20 percent of the total 7 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 8 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 9 employment in such public service job. 10 ‘‘(iv) In the case of a borrower who 11 completes 8 years of employment in a pub- 12 lic service job, 20 percent of the total 13 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 14 Loan on the date the borrower commenced 15 employment in such public service job. 16 ‘‘(v) In the case of a borrower who 17 completes 10 years of employment in a 18 public service job, the amount remaining of 19 the total amount due on the eligible Fed- 20 eral Direct Loan on the date the borrower 21 commenced employment in such public 22 service job. 23 ‘‘(E) INTEREST CANCELED.—If a portion 24 of a loan is canceled under this paragraph for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4113 IH a period of employment in a public service job, 1 the entire amount of interest on such loan that 2 accrued during such period shall be canceled. 3 ‘‘(F) EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION 4 FORM.—In order to receive loan cancellation 5 under this paragraph, a borrower shall submit 6 to the Secretary an employment certification 7 form that is developed by the Secretary and in- 8 cludes self-certification of employment and a 9 separate part for employer certification that in- 10 dicates the dates of employment.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4113.IH H4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS