State Workforce Incentive Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4851 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to carry out a State workforce incentive program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself and Mr. KELLER) 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 carry out a State workforce incentive program. 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 ‘‘State Workforce Incen- 4 tive Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STATE WORKFORCE INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 6 Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at 8 the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘SEC. 493E. STATE WORKFORCE INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 2 support the workforce in State-determined high-need or 3 public-service occupations, and to encourage individuals to 4 pursue and maintain employment in such occupations 5 through annual incentive payments towards their eligible 6 Federal loans. 7 ‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT AND ALLOCATIONS OF CREDITS 8 FOR REDUCING FEDERAL LOAN DEBT.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro- 10 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall an- 11 nually allot, in accordance with paragraph (2), loan 12 repayment credits to each State with an approved 13 State implementation plan, which may be allocated 14 to eligible borrowers in such State for the purpose 15 of reducing the amount owed on the eligible Federal 16 loans of such borrowers. 17 ‘‘(2) ALLOTMENT OF LOAN REPAYMENT CRED- 18 ITS TO STATES.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State with an 20 approved State implementation plan shall re- 21 ceive an allotment of loan repayment credits on 22 July 1 of each year, as follows: 23 ‘‘(i) 0.50 of the amount appropriated 24 under subsection (e) shall be allotted on 25 the basis of the relative population of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4851 IH State, compared to the total population in 1 all States with an approved State imple- 2 mentation plan. 3 ‘‘(ii) 0.25 of the amount appropriated 4 under subsection (e) shall be allotted on 5 the basis of the relative amount of individ- 6 uals in poverty in the State, compared to 7 the total amount of individuals in poverty 8 in all States with an approved State imple- 9 mentation plan. 10 ‘‘(iii) 0.25 of the amount appropriated 11 under subsection (e) shall be allotted on 12 the basis of the relative excess number of 13 individuals in poverty in the State, com- 14 pared to total excess number of individuals 15 in poverty in all States with an approved 16 State implementation plan. 17 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 18 paragraph: 19 ‘‘(i) INDIVIDUALS IN POVERTY.—The 20 term ‘individuals in poverty’ means the 21 number of individuals who are living below 22 100 percent of the poverty line. 23 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS NUMBER.—The term 24 ‘excess number’, when used with respect to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4851 IH the excess number of individuals in poverty 1 in a State, means the number that rep- 2 resents the number of individuals in pov- 3 erty in the State in excess of 8 percent of 4 the total number of individuals in the 5 State for whom the poverty status is deter- 6 mined. 7 ‘‘(C) CARRYOVER OF LOAN REPAYMENT 8 CREDITS.—Any loan repayment credits allotted 9 to a State and not obligated to a borrower dur- 10 ing the award year during which such credits 11 were allotted shall— 12 ‘‘(i) be retained by the State during 13 the period covered by the State plan; and 14 ‘‘(ii) may be allocated by the State to 15 a borrower at any point during such pe- 16 riod. 17 ‘‘(3) MANDATORY FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 18 2021.—For fiscal year 2021, there shall be available 19 to the Secretary, from funds not otherwise appro- 20 priated, funds to be obligated to States receiving an 21 allotment under this section for administrative costs 22 under this section not to exceed $50,000,000. 23 ‘‘(c) STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for an allot- 1 ment of loan repayment credits under this section, 2 a State shall submit to the Secretary a State imple- 3 mentation plan every 5 years. 4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each State implementation 5 plan shall cover a period of 5 award years and in- 6 clude the following: 7 ‘‘(A) The State entity responsible for ad- 8 ministering the program under this section. 9 ‘‘(B) A description of how the State will 10 identify the workforce and public service needs 11 (as defined by the State) to be addressed 12 through the program, including descriptions of 13 how the State— 14 ‘‘(i) will use State, regional, or local 15 labor market data to determine workforce 16 needs; 17 ‘‘(ii) will consider particular occupa- 18 tions that support the economic develop- 19 ment of rural and underserved commu- 20 nities (which may include farmers), as de- 21 termined by the State; 22 ‘‘(iii) will determine the occupations 23 for which borrowers shall be eligible to re- 24 ceive loan repayment credits; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘(iv) will determine the amount of 1 loan repayment credits to be annually allo- 2 cated to borrowers in each occupation de- 3 termined under clause (iii); and 4 ‘‘(v) will project the total amount of 5 loan repayment credits to be awarded an- 6 nually to borrowers eligible for such cred- 7 its, and use this projection to ensure the 8 State has been allotted sufficient loan re- 9 payment credits to meet the State’s obliga- 10 tions under clauses (iii) and (iv). 11 ‘‘(C) A description of how the State will 12 administer the program under this section, in- 13 cluding descriptions of— 14 ‘‘(i) how the State will promote such 15 program, and publicly announce to the 16 general public in the State the list of eligi- 17 ble occupations and the annual amount of 18 loan repayment credits to be awarded for 19 such occupations during the period covered 20 by the plan; 21 ‘‘(ii) the borrower-friendly application 22 process for borrowers to apply to the State 23 for loan repayment credits; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘(iii) the process the State will use to 1 verify the State-determined eligibility fac- 2 tors of each applicant and how such appli- 3 cation will be seamlessly submitted under 4 subsection (d)(1)(C) to the Secretary for 5 Federal verification of the State’s deter- 6 mination of the amount of loan repayment 7 credits to be allocated; and 8 ‘‘(iv) how the State will determine if 9 the State has sufficient loan repayment 10 credits to add occupations to the list of eli- 11 gible occupations or increase the amount of 12 loan repayment credits to be awarded to 13 borrowers in eligible occupations, and how 14 the State will inform the general public in 15 the State of such changes. 16 ‘‘(D) An assurance that following the pub- 17 lic release of the State determined eligible occu- 18 pations and loan repayment credit amounts, 19 such occupations and credit amounts will not be 20 reduced or become unavailable for allocation to 21 borrowers eligible for such credits in the State 22 for the period covered by the plan. 23 ‘‘(E) An assurance that the State will com- 24 ply with subsection (d)(2)(C) to use non-Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4851 IH eral funds to provide the full State-determined 1 amount of loan repayment credits in accordance 2 with such subsection. 3 ‘‘(F) An assurance that no borrower will 4 receive more than $10,000 in loan repayment 5 credits for an award year. 6 ‘‘(3) PLAN APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ap- 7 prove a plan submitted under this section that meets 8 the requirements of paragraph (2). 9 ‘‘(d) BORROWER APPLICATION PROCESS.— 10 ‘‘(1) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Each State re- 11 ceiving an allotment of loan repayment credits under 12 this section shall— 13 ‘‘(A) upon receipt of approval of the 14 State’s plan under subsection (c)(3), carry out 15 the announcement and promotion requirements 16 described in subsection (c)(2)(C)(i); 17 ‘‘(B) require each borrower seeking such 18 credits to submit an application to the State at 19 such time, in such manner, and containing such 20 information as may be required by such State; 21 and 22 ‘‘(C) upon State verification of eligibility of 23 a borrower for an allocation of loan repayment 24 credits (including employment in an eligible oc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4851 IH cupation and the application requirements 1 under subparagraph (B)), the State shall sub- 2 mit to the Secretary— 3 ‘‘(i) the application of the borrower; 4 and 5 ‘‘(ii) a determination of the number of 6 such credits that should be allocated to the 7 borrower. 8 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY APPROVAL.— 9 ‘‘(A) FULL AMOUNT.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub- 11 paragraphs (B) and (C), upon a deter- 12 mination that a borrower meets the re- 13 quirements of clause (ii), the Secretary 14 shall cancel an amount equal to the 15 amount of credits allocated to the borrower 16 under paragraph (1)(C)(ii) of the out- 17 standing balance of principal or interest on 18 the eligible Federal loans of such borrower. 19 ‘‘(ii) BORROWER REQUIREMENTS.—A 20 borrower meets the requirements of this 21 clause if the borrower— 22 ‘‘(I) has entered repayment on 23 any eligible Federal loan and such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4851 IH loans are less than 90 days delin- 1 quent; 2 ‘‘(II) whose total number of loan 3 repayment credits under this section 4 has resulted in the cancellation of less 5 than $50,000 on the borrower’s eligi- 6 ble Federal loans; and 7 ‘‘(III) earned an adjusted gross 8 income of less than $120,000 during 9 the prior calendar year. 10 ‘‘(B) PARTIAL AMOUNT.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 12 borrower whose allocation amount under 13 subparagraph (A) would result in the bor- 14 rower receiving greater than a total of 15 $50,000 in loan repayment credits under 16 the program under this section, the Sec- 17 retary shall cancel an amount described in 18 clause (ii) of the outstanding balance on 19 the eligible Federal loans of the borrower. 20 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—The amount de- 21 scribed in this clause is an amount that 22 would result in the borrower receiving a 23 total of $50,000 in loan cancellation under 24 this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘(C) INSUFFICIENT CREDITS.—In the case 1 of a State that does not have a sufficient allot- 2 ment of loan repayment credits to allocate the 3 number of credits to a borrower in an amount 4 determined under paragraph (1)(C)(ii) for such 5 borrower, the Secretary shall, with respect to 6 the outstanding balance of the borrower’s eligi- 7 ble Federal loans— 8 ‘‘(i) cancel an amount equal to the 9 amount of such credits that are remaining 10 in the State’s allotment; and 11 ‘‘(ii) notify the State of its obligation 12 to use non-Federal funds to cancel an 13 amount equal to the difference between the 14 allocation amount determined for the bor- 15 rower and the amount cancelled under 16 clause (i). 17 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro- 18 priated, and there are appropriated to carry out this sec- 19 tion (in addition to any other amounts appropriated to 20 carry out this section and out of any money in the Treas- 21 ury not otherwise appropriated)— 22 ‘‘(1) for each of the first and second award 23 years that begin on or after the date of enactment 24 of the State Workforce Incentive Act, an amount 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4851 IH equal to 0.01 of the loans made under part D and 1 first disbursed during the preceding award year; 2 ‘‘(2) for each of the third and fourth award 3 years that begin after the date of enactment of the 4 State Workforce Incentive Act, an amount equal to 5 0.02 of the loans made under part D and first dis- 6 bursed during the preceding award year; 7 ‘‘(3) for each of the fifth and sixth award years 8 that begin after the date of enactment of the State 9 Workforce Incentive Act, an amount equal to 0.03 of 10 the loans made under part D and first disbursed 11 during the preceding award year; and 12 ‘‘(4) for the seventh award year that begins 13 after the date of enactment of the State Workforce 14 Incentive Act and each succeeding award year, an 15 amount equal to 0.04 of the loans made under part 16 D and first disbursed during the preceding award 17 year. 18 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 ‘‘(1) LOAN REPAYMENT CREDIT.—The term 20 ‘loan repayment credit’ means a credit for the out- 21 standing balance of principal or interest on eligible 22 Federal loans that shall be cancelled on such loans, 23 at the rate of 1 credit equals $1 of such principal 24 or interest. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4851.IH H4851 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4851 IH ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LOAN.—The term ‘eli- 1 gible Federal loan’ means a loan made under part 2 D, other than— 3 ‘‘(A) a Federal Direct PLUS Loan made 4 on behalf of a dependent student; or 5 ‘‘(B) a Federal Consolidation Loan, if the 6 proceeds of such loan were used to discharge 7 the liability on a loan described in subpara- 8 graph (A).’’. 9 SEC. 3. SUNSET OF PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVE [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]