Working Students Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2655 To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to increase the amount of financial support available for working students. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to increase the amount of financial support available for working students. 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 ‘‘Working Students 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2655 IS SEC. 2. INCREASING SUPPORT FOR WORKING STUDENTS 1 BY 35 PERCENT. 2 (a) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475(g)(2)(D) 3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 4 1087oo(g)(2)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance (or a 6 successor amount prescribed by the Secretary 7 under section 478) of $9,010 for academic year 8 2020–2021;’’. 9 (b) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND- 10 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(b)(1)(A)(iv) 11 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 12 1087pp(b)(1)(A)(iv)) is amended to read as follows: 13 ‘‘(iv) an income protection allowance 14 (or a successor amount prescribed by the 15 Secretary under section 478)— 16 ‘‘(I) for single or separated stu- 17 dents, or married students where both 18 are enrolled pursuant to subsection 19 (a)(2), of $14,010 for academic year 20 2020–2021; and 21 ‘‘(II) for married students where 22 1 is enrolled pursuant to subsection 23 (a)(2), of $22,460 for academic year 24 2020–2021;’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2655 IS (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS 1 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(b)(4) of the High- 2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087qq(b)(4)) is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(4) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—The 5 income protection allowance is determined by the fol- 6 lowing table (or a successor table prescribed by the 7 Secretary under section 478), for academic year 8 2020–2021: 9 ‘‘Income Protection Allowance Family Size Number in College (including student) 1 2 3 4 5 For each additional subtract: 2 $36,370 $30,160 $6,180 3 45,290 39,100 $32,890 4 55,920 49,720 43,540 $37,300 5 65,990 59,750 53,570 47,360 $41,180 6 77,170 70,960 64,790 58,540 52,370 For each additional add: 8,710 ’’. (d) UPDATED TABLES AND AMOUNTS.—Section 10 478(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 11 1087rr(b)) is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 13 (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each academic 15 year after academic year 2020–2021, the Sec- 16 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a 17 revised table of income protection allowances 18 for the purpose of sections 475(c)(4) and 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2655 IS 477(b)(4), subject to subparagraphs (B) and 1 (C). 2 ‘‘(B) TABLE FOR INDEPENDENT STU- 3 DENTS.—For each academic year after aca- 4 demic year 2020–2021, the Secretary shall de- 5 velop the revised table of income protection al- 6 lowances by increasing each of the dollar 7 amounts contained in the table of income pro- 8 tection allowances under section 477(b)(4) by a 9 percentage equal to the estimated percentage 10 increase in the Consumer Price Index (as deter- 11 mined by the Secretary for the most recent cal- 12 endar year ending prior to the beginning of the 13 academic year for which the determination is 14 being made), and rounding the result to the 15 nearest $10.’’; and 16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall be de- 17 veloped’’ and all that follows through the period at 18 the end and inserting ‘‘shall be developed for each 19 academic year after academic year 2020–2021, by 20 increasing each of the dollar amounts contained in 21 such section for academic year 2020–2021 by a per- 22 centage equal to the estimated percentage increase 23 in the Consumer Price Index (as determined by the 24 Secretary for the most recent calendar year ending 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2655 IS prior to the beginning of the academic year for 1 which the determination is being made), and round- 2 ing the result to the nearest $10.’’. 3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 4 this section shall take effect beginning on July 1, 2020 5 and shall apply to grant and award determinations made 6 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) beginning with the 2020–2021 award 8 year. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS