Working Students Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4787 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Mr. BERA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 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 SEC. 2. INCREASING SUPPORT FOR WORKING STUDENTS 6 BY 35 PERCENT. 7 (a) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475(g)(2)(D) 8 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9 1087oo(g)(2)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4787.IH H4787 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4787 IH ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance (or a 1 successor amount prescribed by the Secretary 2 under section 478) of $9,010 for academic year 3 2020–2021;’’. 4 (b) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND- 5 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(b)(1)(A)(iv) 6 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7 1087pp(b)(1)(A)(iv)) is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(iv) an income protection allowance 9 (or a successor amount prescribed by the 10 Secretary under section 478)— 11 ‘‘(I) for single or separated stu- 12 dents, or married students where both 13 are enrolled pursuant to subsection 14 (a)(2), of $14,010 for academic year 15 2020–2021; and 16 ‘‘(II) for married students where 17 1 is enrolled pursuant to subsection 18 (a)(2), of $22,460 for academic year 19 2020–2021;’’. 20 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS 21 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(b)(4) of the High- 22 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087qq(b)(4)) is 23 amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4787.IH H4787 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4787 IH ‘‘(4) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—The 1 income protection allowance is determined by the fol- 2 lowing table (or a successor table prescribed by the 3 Secretary under section 478), for academic year 4 2020–2021: 5 ‘‘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 6 478(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7 1087rr(b)) is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 9 (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each academic 11 year after academic year 2020–2021, the Sec- 12 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a 13 revised table of income protection allowances 14 for the purpose of sections 475(c)(4) and 15 477(b)(4), subject to subparagraphs (B) and 16 (C). 17 ‘‘(B) TABLE FOR INDEPENDENT STU- 18 DENTS.—For each academic year after aca- 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4787.IH H4787 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4787 IH demic year 2020–2021, the Secretary shall de- 1 velop the revised table of income protection al- 2 lowances by increasing each of the dollar 3 amounts contained in the table of income pro- 4 tection allowances under section 477(b)(4) by a 5 percentage equal to the estimated percentage 6 increase in the Consumer Price Index (as deter- 7 mined by the Secretary for the most recent cal- 8 endar year ending prior to the beginning of the 9 academic year for which the determination is 10 being made), and rounding the result to the 11 nearest $10.’’; and 12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall be de- 13 veloped’’ and all that follows through the period at 14 the end and inserting ‘‘shall be developed for each 15 academic year after academic year 2020–2021, by 16 increasing each of the dollar amounts contained in 17 such section for academic year 2020–2021 by a per- 18 centage equal to the estimated percentage increase 19 in the Consumer Price Index (as determined by the 20 Secretary for the most recent calendar year ending 21 prior to the beginning of the academic year for 22 which the determination is being made), and round- 23 ing the result to the nearest $10.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4787.IH H4787 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4787 IH (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall take effect beginning on July 1, 2020 2 and shall apply to grant and award determinations made 3 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) beginning with the 2020–2021 award 5 year. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4787.IH H4787 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS