Rural Revitalization Now Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8835 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a relocation and retention student loan repayment program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 2, 2020 Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself and Mr. DELGADO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a relocation and retention student loan repayment 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 ‘‘Rural Revitalization 4 Now Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8835 IH SEC. 2. RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 3 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(r) RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN 6 REPAYMENT PROGRAM.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 8 ‘‘(A) ENROLLED LOAN AMOUNT.—A bor- 9 rower may elect to enroll any combination of 10 principal and accrued interest that has not been 11 capitalized on eligible loans not in default as an 12 enrolled loan balance under the program under 13 this subsection in an amount that is equal to— 14 ‘‘(i) an amount agreed to by the bor- 15 rower, Secretary, and sponsoring entity (or 16 a combination of such sponsoring entities); 17 and 18 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in paragraph 19 (3)(B)(ii), the lesser of the following: 20 ‘‘(I) $50,000. 21 ‘‘(II) The total amount of eligible 22 loans of such borrower. 23 ‘‘(B) CANCELLATION OR REPAYMENT RE- 24 QUIRED.—The Secretary shall cancel or repay 25 an amount determined under paragraph (2)(A) 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8835 IH of the balance due on any enrolled loan balance 1 not in default for a borrower who— 2 ‘‘(i) has maintained residence in a 3 qualifying area during a 12-month period 4 and such borrower attests that such resi- 5 dence is a primary residence; and 6 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates to the Secretary in 7 the agreement under paragraph (2)(A) 8 that a sponsoring entity certified in accord- 9 ance with paragraph (3)(A) (or a combina- 10 tion of such sponsoring entities) will, ex- 11 cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), 12 match the amounts cancelled or repaid by 13 the Secretary as payments made by such 14 sponsoring entity (or a combination of 15 such sponsoring entities) towards the re- 16 payment of the enrolled loan balance. 17 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 18 establish a user-friendly, simplified, and elec- 19 tronic process using the online portal required 20 under paragraph (5)(B) through which a bor- 21 rower who makes an election to enroll eligible 22 loans into an enrolled loan balance under sub- 23 paragraph (A) shall annually certify enrollment 24 in the program under this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8835 IH ‘‘(D) NO PAYMENTS REQUIRED BY BOR- 1 ROWER.—A borrower may not be required to 2 make payments with respect to the enrolled 3 loan balance (or payments on the interest that 4 accrues on the total amount of such enrolled 5 loan balance) during any 12-month period in 6 which the borrower is enrolled in the program 7 under this subsection. 8 ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE.— 9 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.—Subject to subpara- 10 graph (B), the Secretary shall enter into an 11 agreement with a borrower and sponsoring enti- 12 ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti- 13 ties) to cancel or repay an amount with respect 14 to each 12-month period described under para- 15 graph (1)(B)(i) such that over the period of 96 16 months the total amount of cancellation under 17 paragraph (1) is equal to an amount that, ex- 18 cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), is 19 equal to the lesser of the following: 20 ‘‘(i) $25,000 toward the enrolled loan 21 balance, plus the interest that accrues on 22 the total amount of the enrolled loan bal- 23 ance under paragraph (1)(A). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8835 IH ‘‘(ii) Half of the total amount of the 1 enrolled loan balance, plus the interest that 2 accrues on the total amount of the enrolled 3 loan balance under paragraph (1)(A). 4 ‘‘(B) INCREASED CANCELLATION AMOUNTS 5 OVER TIME.—The Secretary shall establish a 6 standardized cancellation or repayment schedule 7 for purposes of the program under this sub- 8 section such that over the course of 8 cancella- 9 tions or repayments of the enrolled loan balance 10 under paragraph (1), the total amount can- 11 celled or repaid with respect to each 12-month 12 period increases. 13 ‘‘(C) NUMBER OF CANCELLATIONS.—A 14 borrower— 15 ‘‘(i) may receive during a 12-month 16 period for which the borrower is certified 17 not more than one cancellation or repay- 18 ment under paragraph (1); and 19 ‘‘(ii) may not receive more than 8 20 such cancellations or repayments. 21 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON PRESSURING BOR- 22 ROWERS.— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A private edu- 24 cation loan debt collector or creditor may 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8835 IH not pressure a borrower of a private loan 1 to elect to apply any amount received pur- 2 suant to paragraph (1) to any private edu- 3 cation loan. 4 ‘‘(ii) VIOLATIONS.—A violation of this 5 subparagraph is deemed— 6 ‘‘(I) an unfair, deceptive, or abu- 7 sive act or practice under Federal law 8 in connection with any transaction 9 with a consumer for a consumer fi- 10 nancial product or service under sec- 11 tion 1031 of the Consumer Financial 12 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 13 5531); and 14 ‘‘(II) with respect to a violation 15 by a debt collector, an unfair or un- 16 conscionable means to collect or at- 17 tempt to collect any debt under sec- 18 tion 808 of the Federal Debt Collec- 19 tion Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f). 20 ‘‘(iii) PRESSURE DEFINED.—In this 21 subparagraph, the term ‘pressure’ means 22 any communication, recommendation, or 23 other similar communication, other than 24 providing basic information about a bor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8835 IH rower’s options, urging a borrower to make 1 an election described in clause (i). 2 ‘‘(E) UNENROLLMENT.—A borrower who 3 no longer resides in a qualifying area after re- 4 ceiving a cancellation or repayment under this 5 subsection shall be unenrolled from the program 6 under this subsection and the remaining en- 7 rolled loan balance of such borrower shall be in- 8 cluded in the eligible loans from which such en- 9 rolled loan balance derived. Such unenrollment 10 shall not preclude a borrower from enrolling the 11 eligible loans of the borrower into an appro- 12 priate loan forgiveness or repayment program, 13 including such a program in which the borrower 14 is, at the time of such unenrollment, already en- 15 rolled or participating in. 16 ‘‘(F) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 17 issue such regulations as are necessary to allow 18 borrowers to concurrently enroll in the program 19 under this subsection with respect to an en- 20 rolled loan balance and a loan forgiveness or re- 21 payment program with respect to the other eli- 22 gible loans of the borrower not so enrolled. In 23 the case of a borrower described in subpara- 24 graph (E), the Secretary shall establish through 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8835 IH regulation a process by which the remaining en- 1 rolled loan balance of such borrower is included 2 in to the eligible loans from which such enrolled 3 loan balance derived and may be enrolled in an 4 appropriate loan forgiveness or repayment pro- 5 gram if the borrower would otherwise be eligible 6 for such program. 7 ‘‘(3) SPONSORING ENTITIES.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con- 9 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce and 10 the Secretary of Labor, shall carry out a pro- 11 gram to certify States, counties, localities, terri- 12 tories, Tribes, nonprofit entities, and qualifying 13 partnerships that are able to provide funding to 14 borrowers for purposes of this subsection. Such 15 program shall include standard requirements 16 relating to the treatment of default by a spon- 17 soring entity and the ability of a sponsoring en- 18 tity to be certified or recertified after such a de- 19 fault. 20 ‘‘(B) MATCHING FUNDS.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 22 vided in clause (ii), a sponsoring entity (or 23 a combination of such sponsoring entities) 24 shall match (except with respect to the in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8835 IH terest that accrues on the total amount of 1 the enrolled loan balance under paragraph 2 (1)(A)) the amounts cancelled or repaid by 3 the Secretary under paragraph (1) as pay- 4 ments made by such sponsoring entity to- 5 wards the repayment of the enrolled loan 6 balance. 7 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 8 ‘‘(I) EXTREME FINANCIAL HARD- 9 SHIP.—In the case of a sponsoring en- 10 tity (or a combination of such spon- 11 soring entities) with an extreme finan- 12 cial hardship that demonstrates such 13 hardship to the Secretary, through a 14 process determined by the Secretary, 15 the sponsoring entity and the Sec- 16 retary may agree to match amounts 17 such that the total amount repaid or 18 cancelled under this subsection is less 19 than the amount described in para- 20 graph (1)(A), so long as the total 21 amount repaid with respect to each 22 12-month period increases. 23 ‘‘(II) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.— 24 A sponsoring entity (or a combination 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8835 IH of such sponsoring entities) may pro- 1 vide more than the match required 2 under clause (i) if the Secretary deter- 3 mines that, over the course of pro- 4 viding more than the matching 5 amount of the repayments or cancella- 6 tions under paragraph (1), the total 7 amount repaid by such sponsoring en- 8 tity with respect to each 12-month pe- 9 riod increases. 10 ‘‘(iii) INTEREST.—The Secretary shall 11 cancel or repay the interest that accrues on 12 the total amount of the enrolled loan bal- 13 ance under paragraph (1)(A), regardless of 14 whether an exception under clause (ii) ap- 15 plies with respect to such an enrolled loan 16 balance. 17 ‘‘(C) DEFAULT.—In the case of a borrower 18 for which a sponsoring entity (or a combination 19 of such sponsoring entities) offers to provide 20 loan cancellation or repayment under this sub- 21 section and subsequently defaults on such offer, 22 such borrower may not be held responsible for 23 repayment of the amount such sponsoring enti- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8835 IH ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti- 1 ties) offered to provide such borrower. 2 ‘‘(D) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 3 in this subsection shall preclude— 4 ‘‘(i) the Secretary from establishing a 5 process to financially assist a sponsoring 6 entity (or a combination of such spon- 7 soring entities) that defaults on loan can- 8 cellation or repayment (as described in 9 subparagraph (C)) so long as such process 10 does not hold a borrower responsible for 11 any repayments with respect to such a de- 12 fault; or 13 ‘‘(ii) a sponsoring entity (or a com- 14 bination of such sponsoring entities) from 15 establishing reciprocal agreements, part- 16 nering, collaborating, or otherwise coordi- 17 nating with other sponsoring entities to 18 provide matching funds as required under 19 subparagraph (B)(i) and avoid default. 20 ‘‘(E) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall 21 issue guidance to assist sponsoring entities (or 22 a combination of such sponsoring entities) with 23 establishing preference and developing criteria 24 to select borrowers for sponsorship under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8835 IH subsection and to select borrowers to receive ad- 1 ditional payments under subparagraph 2 (B)(ii)(II). 3 ‘‘(4) TAX TREATMENT OF CANCELLED OR RE- 4 PAID AMOUNTS.—For purpose of the Internal Rev- 5 enue Code of 1986, no amount shall be included in 6 any person’s gross income by reason of the discharge 7 under this subsection of any indebtedness. 8 ‘‘(5) DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 9 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION FOR BORROWERS.— 10 The Secretary shall establish on the public 11 website of the Department of Education, and 12 periodically update— 13 ‘‘(i) a list of qualifying areas; 14 ‘‘(ii) a list of sponsoring entities cer- 15 tified under paragraph (3)(A) available 16 with respect to such qualifying areas; and 17 ‘‘(iii) contact information for such 18 sponsoring entities. 19 ‘‘(B) ONLINE PORTAL.—The Secretary 20 shall establish an online portal through the pub- 21 lic website of the Department of Education for 22 borrowers to— 23 ‘‘(i) certify enrollment in the program 24 under this section; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8835 IH ‘‘(ii) check the status of an enrollment 1 certification under this section and the 2 deadlines with respect to such certifi- 3 cations; 4 ‘‘(iii) check the enrollment status of 5 such borrower with respect to the program 6 under this section; and 7 ‘‘(iv) view the amount of assistance 8 the borrower has received or will receive 9 with respect to the enrolled loan balance of 10 the borrower and [Text truncated for display. 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