HOPE (Heightening Opportunities for Pathways to Education) for FAFSA Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4245 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce the complexity and length of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 Mrs. MCBATH (for herself and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) 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 reduce the complexity and length of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 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 ‘‘HOPE (Heightening 4 Opportunities for Pathways to Education) for FAFSA 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 7 (a) DATA ELEMENTS.—Section 474(b) of the Higher 8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087nn(b)) is amended 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4245 IH in paragraph (4), by inserting before ‘‘the net’’ the fol- 1 lowing: ‘‘only in the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 2 (b) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475 of such 3 Act (20 U.S.C. 1087oo) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting before 5 ‘‘the student’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 6 pathway three applicant,’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting before 8 ‘‘the parents’ ’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 9 pathway three applicant,’’; and 10 (3) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘award pe- 11 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’. 12 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND- 13 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(a)(1)(B) of 14 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087pp(a)(1)(B)) is amended by in- 15 serting before ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: 16 ‘‘only in the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 17 (d) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS 18 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(a)(1)(B) of such 19 Act (20 U.S.C. 1087qq(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting 20 before ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: ‘‘only in 21 the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 22 SEC. 3. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 23 Section 479 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4245 IH ‘‘SEC. 479. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider an 2 applicant to have an expected family contribution equal 3 to zero if— 4 ‘‘(1) in the case of a dependent student— 5 ‘‘(A)(i) the student’s parents are not re- 6 quired to file— 7 ‘‘(I) a Federal income tax return; 8 or 9 ‘‘(II) with respect to Internal 10 Revenue Service Form 1040, any of 11 the following forms: Schedule A, 12 Schedule B, Schedule C, Schedule C– 13 EZ, Schedule D, Schedule E, Sched- 14 ule F, Schedule H, Schedule J, and 15 Schedule SE; and 16 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross in- 17 come of the parents is less than or equal 18 to $34,000; or 19 ‘‘(B) the student’s parents, or the student, 20 received a benefit at some time during the pre- 21 vious 24-month period under a means-tested 22 Federal benefit program; 23 ‘‘(2) in the case of an independent student 24 without regard to whether the student has depend- 25 ents other than a spouse— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4245 IH ‘‘(A)(i) the student (and the student’s 1 spouse, if any) certifies— 2 ‘‘(I) that the student (and the 3 student’s spouse, if any)— 4 ‘‘(aa) is not required to file 5 a Federal income tax return; or 6 ‘‘(bb) with respect to Inter- 7 nal Revenue Service Form 1040, 8 any of the following forms: 9 Schedule A, Schedule B, Sched- 10 ule C, Schedule C–EZ, Schedule 11 D, Schedule E, Schedule F, 12 Schedule H, Schedule J, and 13 Schedule SE; and 14 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross in- 15 come of the student and spouse (if appro- 16 priate) is less than or equal to $34,000; or 17 ‘‘(B) the student received a benefit at some 18 time during the previous 24-month period 19 under a means-tested Federal benefit program; 20 or 21 ‘‘(3) the applicant is a pathway one applicant 22 under section 483(a)(13). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4245 IH ‘‘(b) EARNED INCOME CREDIT.—An individual is not 1 required to qualify or file for the earned income credit in 2 order to be eligible under this section. 3 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary shall annually 4 adjust the income level necessary to qualify an applicant 5 for the zero expected family contribution. The income level 6 shall be annually increased by the estimated percentage 7 change in the Consumer Price Index, as defined in section 8 478(f), for the most recent calendar year ending prior to 9 the beginning of an award year, and rounded up to the 10 nearest $1,000. 11 ‘‘(d) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM 12 DEFINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘means- 13 tested Federal benefit program’ means a mandatory 14 spending program of the Federal Government, other than 15 a program under this title, in which eligibility for the pro- 16 gram’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, are deter- 17 mined on the basis of income or resources of the individual 18 or family seeking the benefit, and may include such pro- 19 grams as— 20 ‘‘(1) the supplemental security income program 21 under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 22 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 23 ‘‘(2) the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 24 gram under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4245 IH U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), a nutrition assistance program 1 carried out under section 19 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2 2028), and a supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 3 gram carried out under section 1841(c) of title 48 4 of the United States Code; 5 ‘‘(3) the program of block grants for States for 6 temporary assistance for needy families established 7 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 8 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 9 ‘‘(4) the special supplemental nutrition program 10 for women, infants, and children established by sec- 11 tion 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 12 U.S.C. 1786); 13 ‘‘(5) the State Medicaid program under title 14 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 15 seq.); and 16 ‘‘(6) any other program identified by the Sec- 17 retary.’’. 18 SEC. 4. FAFSA PATHWAYS. 19 Section 483(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 20 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is amended by adding at the end the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(13) FAFSA PATHWAYS.— 23 ‘‘(A) MEMORANDUM OF UNDER- 24 STANDING.—Not later than the first day of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4245 IH first award year beginning after the first Octo- 1 ber after the date of enactment of this Act, the 2 Secretary shall seek to enter into a Memo- 3 randum of Understanding with the Secretary of 4 Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 5 Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Treasury, 6 under which any information exchanged under 7 an income and eligibility verification system es- 8 tablished pursuant to section 1137 of the Social 9 Security Act by State agencies administering a 10 program listed in paragraph (1), (4), or (5) of 11 subsection (b) of such section which may be of 12 use in establishing or verifying eligibility or 13 benefit amounts under such program shall be 14 made available to the Secretary of Education to 15 assist in determining whether the applicant (or, 16 in the case of a dependent applicant, whether 17 the applicant or the applicant’s parents) re- 18 ceived a benefit at some time during the pre- 19 vious 24-month period under a means-tested 20 Federal benefit program, but subject to the re- 21 quirements of Federal law. 22 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR ALL APPLICANTS 23 AND THE SECRETARY.—For any award year for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4245 IH which an applicant applies for financial assist- 1 ance under this title— 2 ‘‘(i) the applicant shall provide on the 3 form described in this subsection whether 4 the applicant received (or, in the case of a 5 dependent applicant, whether the applicant 6 or the parents of the applicant received) a 7 benefit at some time during the previous 8 24-month period under a means-tested 9 Federal benefit program; and 10 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary, to the extent prac- 11 ticable and pursuant to the Memorandum 12 of Understanding entered into under sub- 13 paragraph (A), and without any further 14 action by the applicant, shall verify the ap- 15 plicant’s (or, in the case of a dependent 16 applicant, the applicant’s or the applicant’s 17 parents) receipt of such benefit. 18 ‘‘(C) PATHWAY ONE APPLICANTS.— 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 20 applicant who received (or, in the case of 21 a dependent applicant, an applicant who 22 received or whose parents received) a ben- 23 efit at some time during the previous 24- 24 month period under a means-tested Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4245 IH eral benefit program, the applicant shall 1 not be required to provide any further in- 2 come or asset information on the form 3 under this subsection. 4 ‘‘(ii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 5 this section and part F, an applicant de- 6 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 7 a ‘pathway one applicant’. 8 ‘‘(D) PATHWAY TWO APPLICANTS.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 10 applicant who is not a pathway one appli- 11 cant and is described in clause (ii), the 12 Secretary, to the extent practicable, shall 13 use the data retrieval tool under section 14 484(q) to obtain any information for the 15 applicant beyond the information described 16 in subparagraph (A) for purposes of the 17 form under this subsection. 18 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—An applicant 19 described in this clause is an applicant who 20 certifies that— 21 ‘‘(I) the applicant is not required 22 to file or, in the case of a dependent 23 applicant, no parent of the applicant 24 is required to file— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4245 IH ‘‘(aa) a Federal income tax 1 return; or 2 ‘‘(bb) with respect to Inter- 3 nal Revenue Service Form 1040, 4 any of the following forms: 5 Schedule A, Schedule B, Sched- 6 ule C, Schedule C–EZ, Schedule 7 D, Schedule E, Schedule F, 8 Schedule H, Schedule J, and 9 Schedule SE; and 10 ‘‘(II) the sum of the adjusted 11 gross income of the applicant or, in 12 the case of a dependent applicant, the 13 parents of the applicant, is less than 14 or equal to $60,000. 15 ‘‘(iii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 16 this section and part F, an applicant de- 17 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 18 a ‘pathway two applicant’. 19 ‘‘(E) PATHWAY THREE APPLICANTS.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 21 applicant who is not a pathway one appli- 22 cant or a pathway two applicant, the Sec- 23 retary, to the extent practicable, shall use 24 the data retrieval tool under section 484(q) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4245 IH to obtain any information for the applicant 1 beyond the information described in sub- 2 paragraph (A) for purposes of the form 3 under this subsection. 4 ‘‘(ii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 5 this section and part F, an applicant de- 6 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 7 a ‘pathway three applicant’. 8 ‘‘(F) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT 9 PROGRAM DEFINED.—For purposes of this 10 paragraph, the term ‘means-tested Federal ben- 11 efit program’ has the meaning given the term 12 in section 479(d).’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS