PSLF Modernization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4391 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modernize and improve the public service loan forgiveness program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. CISNEROS, Mrs. MCBATH, and Mr. COX of California) 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 modernize and improve the public service loan forgiveness program, 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 Loan 4 Forgiveness Modernization Act’’ or the ‘‘PSLF Mod- 5 ernization Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4391 IH SEC. 2. REPAYMENT PLAN FOR PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOY- 1 EES. 2 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 5 graph (4); and 6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2), the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM MODERNIZATION.— 9 ‘‘(A) DATABASE OF PUBLIC SERVICE EM- 10 PLOYERS.— 11 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Sec- 12 retary, in consultation with the Commis- 13 sioner of the Internal Revenue Service, 14 shall establish and regularly update a com- 15 prehensive database that identifies— 16 ‘‘(I) each qualified public service 17 employer; and 18 ‘‘(II) each position offered by 19 such employer that is a public service 20 job. 21 ‘‘(ii) ACCESSIBILITY.—The database 22 established under clause (i) shall be made 23 available in an easily searchable format on 24 a publicly accessible website of the Depart- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4391 IH ment of Education and via a free and se- 1 cure mobile software application. 2 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER SELF-CERTIFICATION.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 4 shall establish a process through which an 5 employer may electronically submit to the 6 Secretary a certification that the employer 7 is a qualified public service employer. 8 ‘‘(ii) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND 9 VERIFICATION.—The Secretary shall re- 10 view each self-certification submitted under 11 clause (i) to verify whether the employer 12 concerned is a qualified public service em- 13 ployer. 14 ‘‘(iii) PSLF CERTIFICATION SEAL.— 15 An employer verified by the Secretary 16 under clause (ii) shall receive permission to 17 use, for informational and marketing pur- 18 poses, a graphic seal-of-approval developed 19 by the Secretary to indicate the employer’s 20 status as a qualified public service em- 21 ployer. 22 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT.— 23 ‘‘(i) FORMS AND SIGNATURES.—The 24 Secretary shall ensure that any forms re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4391 IH quired to certify a borrower’s employment 1 in a public service job are available to bor- 2 rowers and employers— 3 ‘‘(I) on a publicly accessible 4 website of the Department of Edu- 5 cation; 6 ‘‘(II) via a free and secure mobile 7 software application; and 8 ‘‘(III) in traditional hard copy 9 format. 10 ‘‘(ii) ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE AND 11 SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall estab- 12 lish a process that enables borrowers and 13 employers— 14 ‘‘(I) to electronically sign any 15 forms required to certify a borrower’s 16 employment in a public service job; 17 and 18 ‘‘(II) to submit such forms to the 19 Department of Education through an 20 online portal or via a free and secure 21 mobile software application. 22 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE OF RECERTIFI- 23 CATION.—In the case of a borrower who 24 has previously submitted an annual certifi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4391 IH cation of employment under this section, 1 the Secretary shall provide notice to the 2 borrower of the option to recertify such 3 employment not later than 60 days before 4 the expiration of the one year period fol- 5 lowing the date of the borrower’s most re- 6 cently submitted employment certification. 7 The Secretary shall provide such notice to 8 a borrower via email and regular mail. 9 ‘‘(D) STATEMENT OF QUALIFYING PAY- 10 MENTS.—On an annual basis, the Secretary 11 shall provide to each borrower of an eligible 12 Federal Direct Loan who has submitted an an- 13 nual certification of employment under this sec- 14 tion the following information: 15 ‘‘(i) The number of monthly payments 16 made by the borrower on each eligible Fed- 17 eral Direct Loan of the borrower. 18 ‘‘(ii) The number of such payments 19 that qualify as monthly payments under 20 paragraph (1)(A). 21 ‘‘(iii) The number of monthly pay- 22 ments under paragraph (1)(A) remaining 23 on such loan before the borrower is eligible 24 for loan cancellation under paragraph (2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4391 IH ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 1 ‘‘(i) The term ‘Secretary’ means the 2 Secretary of Education acting through the 3 Chief Operating Officer of the Office of 4 Federal Student Aid. 5 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘qualified public service 6 employer’ means an employer that offers 7 employment in a position that is a public 8 service job.’’. 9 SEC. 3. APPLICATION PROCESS FOR TEMPORARY EX- 10 PANDED PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVE- 11 NESS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 13 sion of law, the Secretary of Education shall not require 14 a borrower to apply for and be denied loan cancellation 15 under section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) as a condition of eligibility 17 for loan forgiveness under the programs specified in sub- 18 section (b). 19 (b) PROGRAMS SPECIFIED.—The programs specified 20 in this subsection are the programs of student loan for- 21 giveness commonly known as ‘‘Temporary Expanded Pub- 22 lic Service Loan Forgiveness’’ established under the fol- 23 lowing provisions of law: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4391 IH (1) Section 313 of the Department of Defense 1 and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Edu- 2 cation Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Ap- 3 propriations Act, 2019 (Public Law 115–245). 4 (2) Section 315 of the Consolidated Appropria- 5 tions Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141). 6 (c) ONLINE HELP TOOL.—Not later than 180 days 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 8 of Education shall develop, and make available on a pub- 9 licly accessible website, an online tool designed to help bor- 10 rowers— 11 (1) learn more about the Temporary Expanded 12 Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program; 13 (2) determine their eligibility for forgiveness 14 under the program; and 15 (3) identify any requirements for participation 16 in the program, including any application require- 17 ments. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4391.IH H4391 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS