Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6720 To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the front line in response to COVID–19. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. COHEN, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the front line in response to COVID–19. 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 ‘‘Student Loan Forgive- 4 ness for Frontline Health Workers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6720 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR 1 FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 2 (a) FORGIVENESS REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 3 other provision of law, the Secretary of Education shall 4 carry out a program in accordance with this Act to forgive 5 the outstanding balance of interest and principal due on 6 the applicable eligible Federal student loans of borrowers 7 who are frontline health care workers. 8 (b) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—In carrying 9 out the loan forgiveness program required under sub- 10 section (a), as soon as practicable after the Secretary of 11 Education has confirmed that an applicant is a frontline 12 health care worker who is a borrower of an eligible Federal 13 student loan, the Secretary of Education shall— 14 (1) through the holder of a loan, assume the 15 obligation to repay the outstanding balance of inter- 16 est and principal due on the applicable eligible Fed- 17 eral student loans of the borrower made, insured, or 18 guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher 19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 20 and 21 (2) cancel the outstanding balance of interest 22 and principal due on the applicable eligible Federal 23 student loans of the borrower made under part D or 24 part E of such title. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6720 IH (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 1 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund- 2 ing of any eligible Federal student loan repayment made 3 before the date a borrower’s loans are forgiven in accord- 4 ance with this section. 5 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 6 amount of a borrower’s eligible Federal student loans for- 7 given under this section shall not be included in the gross 8 income of the borrower for purposes of the Internal Rev- 9 enue Code of 1986. 10 (e) NOTICE TO BORROWERS IN STATEMENTS.—With 11 each billing statement sent to a borrower during the two- 12 year period beginning on the 15th day after the date of 13 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 14 include, and shall require each holder of eligible Federal 15 student loans to include, a notice informing the borrower 16 of the availability of the Federal student loan forgiveness 17 and private student loan repayment programs for frontline 18 health care workers under this Act, including where to 19 find information about how to qualify as a frontline health 20 care worker, how to apply to such programs, and the ap- 21 plication deadline for such programs. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6720 IH SEC. 3. PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR FRONT- 1 LINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 2 (a) REPAYMENT REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 3 other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 4 carry out a program in accordance with this Act under 5 which the Secretary shall repay in full the outstanding bal- 6 ance of principal and interest due on the applicable eligible 7 private student loans of borrowers who are frontline health 8 care workers. 9 (b) METHOD OF LOAN REPAYMENT.—In carrying 10 out the program required under subsection (a), as soon 11 as practicable after the Secretary of the Treasury has con- 12 firmed that an applicant is a frontline health care worker 13 who is a borrower of an eligible private student loan, the 14 Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the private edu- 15 cational lender of each of the applicable eligible private 16 student loans of the borrower an amount equal to the sum 17 of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, and late 18 charges of such applicable eligible private student loans, 19 as calculated on the date of the repayment of such loans 20 by the Secretary of the Treasury, in order to discharge 21 the borrower from any remaining obligation to the private 22 educational lender with respect to such applicable eligible 23 private student loans. 24 (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 25 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6720 IH ing of any repayment of a loan made before the date a 1 borrower’s loans are paid by the Secretary of the Treasury 2 in accordance with this section. 3 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 4 amount of a borrower’s eligible private student loans paid 5 by the Secretary of the Treasury under this section shall 6 not be included in the gross income of the borrower for 7 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 8 (e) NOTICE TO BORROWERS IN STATEMENTS.—Sec- 9 tion 128(e) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 10 1638(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 11 new paragraph: 12 ‘‘(12) NOTICE REQUIRED ALONG WITH BILLING 13 STATEMENTS.—With each billing statement sent to 14 the borrower during the two-year period beginning 15 on the 15th day after the date of enactment of the 16 Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health 17 Workers Act, the private educational lender shall in- 18 clude a notice informing the borrower of the avail- 19 ability of the Federal student loan forgiveness and 20 private student loan repayment programs for front- 21 line health care workers under the Student Loan 22 Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act, in- 23 cluding where to find information about how to qual- 24 ify as a frontline health care worker, how to apply 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6720 IH to such programs, and the application deadline for 1 such programs.’’. 2 SEC. 4. COORDINATED PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 3 The Secretaries concerned shall jointly develop the 4 programs required under section 2 and section 3 of this 5 Act, and shall coordinate and consult with one another in 6 carrying out such programs to ensure that— 7 (1) determinations of eligibility are uniform and 8 consistent across both programs; 9 (2) frontline health care workers who are bor- 10 rowers of both eligible Federal student loans and eli- 11 gible private student loans may apply for both loan 12 forgiveness under section 2 and loan repayment 13 under section 3 with submission of only one applica- 14 tion; 15 (3) borrowers with outstanding eligible Federal 16 student loans and borrowers with outstanding eligi- 17 ble private student loans are notified of the avail- 18 ability of both programs required under this Act; 19 and 20 (4) such programs are made available to front- 21 line health care workers who were borrowers of eligi- 22 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 23 loans, or both, and who died as a result of the 24 coronavirus, to relieve the families and estates of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6720 IH such deceased frontline health care workers of the 1 burden of the student loans of the such workers. 2 SEC. 5. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. 3 Not later than 15 days after the date of enactment 4 of this Act, the Secretaries concerned, in consultation with 5 institutions of higher education and lenders and holders 6 of Federal student loans and private education loans, shall 7 take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that bor- 8 rowers who have outstanding eligible Federal student 9 loans, outstanding eligible private student loans, or both, 10 are aware of the loan forgiveness and loan repayment pro- 11 grams authorized by this Act. Such information shall— 12 (1) be presented in a form that is widely avail- 13 able to the public, especially to borrowers with eligi- 14 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 15 loans, or both; 16 (2) be easily understandable; and 17 (3) clearly notify borrowers that to be consid- 18 ered for loan forgiveness or loan repayment (or 19 both) under this Act, borrowers must submit an ap- 20 plication to the Secretaries concerned, and must do 21 so during the application period described in section 22 6. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6720 IH SEC. 6. APPLICATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGI- 1 BILITY. 2 (a) APPLICATION PERIOD.—An individual may apply 3 for loan forgiveness under section 2, loan repayment under 4 section 3, or both, by submitting an application to the Sec- 5 retaries concerned during the period that begins on the 6 date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 7 Act and that ends on the date that is 2 years after the 8 end of the qualifying period. 9 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 10 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION.—Not 11 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 12 this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall jointly, in 13 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services and the Intergovernmental Working 15 Group (in accordance with section 7), develop one 16 application for borrowers of both eligible Federal 17 student loans and eligible private student loans to 18 apply for loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or 19 both, under this Act. 20 (2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The appli- 21 cation required under paragraph (1) may only in- 22 clude such information as is necessary for the Secre- 23 taries concerned to make a determination of whether 24 the applicant— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6720 IH (A) is a frontline health care worker, with- 1 out consideration of the period of time the ap- 2 plicant served as such a worker; and 3 (B) is a borrower of an applicable eligible 4 Federal student loan, an applicable eligible pri- 5 vate student loan, or both. 6 (3) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 30 days 7 after the date on which the Secretaries concerned re- 8 ceive an application from an individual in accordance 9 with this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall— 10 (A) confirm that such individual is a front- 11 line health care worker who is a borrower of an 12 applicable eligible Federal student loan, an ap- 13 plicable eligible private student loan, or both, 14 then notify the individual of such confirmation, 15 and grant the individual loan forgiveness or 16 loan repayment, or both, in accordance with 17 sections 2 and 3 of this Act; or 18 (B) determine that such individual is not a 19 frontline health care worker who is a borrower 20 of an applicable eligible Federal student loan, 21 an eligible private student loan, or both, then 22 deny such application, and provide a notifica- 23 tion to the individual that includes— 24 (i) that the application was denied; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6720 IH (ii) the reason for such denial; and 1 (iii) if the application was denied be- 2 cause the Secretaries concerned determined 3 that the applicant was not a frontline 4 health care worker, an explanation that the 5 individual may appeal the denial to the 6 Intergovernmental Working Group within 7 30 days of the date of such denial, and in- 8 formation on how the applicant may sub- 9 mit such an appeal. 10 (4) TREATMENT AFTER SUCCESSFUL AP- 11 PEAL.—In the case that an individual appeals the 12 denial of an application to the Intergovernmental 13 Working Group in accordance with section 7, and 14 the individual is determined by the Intergovern- 15 mental Working Group to be a frontline health care 16 worker, the Secretaries concerned shall grant the in- 17 dividual loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or both, 18 in accordance with sections 2 and 3 of this Act not 19 later than 30 days after the Secretaries concerned 20 are notified of the outcome of the appeal by the 21 Intergovernmental Working Group. 22 SEC. 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP. 23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6720.IH H6720 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6720 IH cerned and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 1 shall jointly establish an Intergovernmental Working 2 Group to assist, in accordance with this section, with the 3 administration of the programs required under this Act. 4 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Intergovernmental Working 5 Group shall have 9 members, of whom— 6 (1) five members shall be selected by the Sec- 7 retary of Health and Human Services from employ- 8 ees of the Department of Health and Human Serv- 9 ices who are knowledgeable concerning the edu- 10 cation, training, employment, and medical practices 11 of health care professionals and the health care 12 workforce; 13 (2) two members shall be selected by the Sec- 14 retary of Education from employees of the Depart- 15 ment of Education who are knowledgeable con- 16 cerning eligible Federal student loans and the ad- 17 ministration of such loans; and 18 (3) two members shall be selected by the Sec- 19 retary of the Treasury from employees of the De- 20 partment of the Treasury who are knowledgeable 21 concernin [Text truncated for display. 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