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S. 3760, Bill To Provide Student Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employment

Summary

S. 3760 was introduced in the Senate on May 19, 2020 by Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and others) and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Its stated purpose is to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment. Section 2 states the sense of the Senate that the novel coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) is imposing a burden on many individuals, including doctors, nurses, and teachers, who are participating in the public service loan forgiveness program under section 455(m). Section 3 amends section 455(m) to add a provision on loan cancellation for new loans.

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Issuer
Congressional materials
Document type
Bills Bills 116S3760Is Bills 116S3760Is
Case
Bills Bills 116S3760Is Bills 116S3760Is

Cite this document

“S. 3760, Bill To Provide Student Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employment.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/bills-bills-116s3760is-bills-116s3760is/, SHA-256 04e120a047127af1cd7b823ba8b489765b8db5ff4e8312446b45f34d335973cb.

Full text

                                                                                                                                                                        II




                                                                     116TH CONGRESS
                                                                        2D SESSION
                                                                                                            S. 3760
                                                                     To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage
                                                                         of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, and for other
                                                                         purposes.




                                                                                 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
                                                                                                   MAY 19, 2020
                                                                     Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. UDALL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. WARREN, Ms.
                                                                         SMITH, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. HIRONO, and
                                                                         Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re-
                                                                         ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions




                                                                                                               A BILL
                                                                     To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
                                                                        for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public
                                                                        service employment, and for other purposes.

                                                                       1              Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
                                                                       2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
                                                                       3     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

                                                                       4              This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Loan
                                                                       5 Forgiveness for Public Servants During the COVID–19
                                                                       6 Crisis Act’’.




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                                                                       7     SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

                                                                       8              It is the sense of the Senate that—


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                                                                       1                        (1) the novel coronavirus of 2019 (COVID–19)
                                                                       2              is imposing a burden on many individuals, including
                                                                       3              doctors, nurses, and teachers, who are participating
                                                                       4              in the public service loan forgiveness program under
                                                                       5              section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
                                                                       6              (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)); and
                                                                       7                        (2) restructuring the loan forgiveness provided
                                                                       8              through such program and accommodating disrup-
                                                                       9              tions that might occur due to the impact of the novel
                                                                     10               coronavirus of 2019 (COVID–19) are necessary.
                                                                     11      SEC. 3. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.

                                                                     12               (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(m) of the Higher
                                                                     13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amend-
                                                                     14 ed—
                                                                     15                         (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding
                                                                     16               subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, except as provided
                                                                     17               in paragraph (5),’’ after ‘‘on any eligible Federal Di-
                                                                     18               rect Loan not in default’’; and
                                                                     19                         (2) by adding at the end the following:
                                                                     20                         ‘‘(5) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR NEW LOANS.—
                                                                     21                                  ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning after the
                                                                     22                         date of enactment of the Strengthening Loan
                                                                     23                         Forgiveness for Public Servants During the
                                                                     24                         COVID–19 Crisis Act, after the conclusion of



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                                                                     25                         each employment period in a public service job,


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                                                                       1                        as described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary
                                                                       2                        shall cancel the percent specified in such sub-
                                                                       3                        paragraph of the total amount due on any eligi-
                                                                       4                        ble Federal Direct Loan made after the date of
                                                                       5                        enactment of the Strengthening Loan Forgive-
                                                                       6                        ness for Public Servants During the COVID–19
                                                                       7                        Crisis Act for a borrower who is employed in
                                                                       8                        such public service job and submits an employ-
                                                                       9                        ment certification form described in subpara-
                                                                     10                         graph (C).
                                                                     11                                  ‘‘(B) PERCENT AMOUNT.—The percent of
                                                                     12                         a loan that shall be canceled under subpara-
                                                                     13                         graph (A) is as follows:
                                                                     14                                          ‘‘(i) In the case of a borrower who
                                                                     15                                  completes 2 years of employment in a pub-
                                                                     16                                  lic service job, 15 percent of the total
                                                                     17                                  amount due on the eligible Federal Direct
                                                                     18                                  Loan on the date the borrower commenced
                                                                     19                                  employment in such public service job.
                                                                     20                                          ‘‘(ii) In the case of a borrower who
                                                                     21                                  completes 4 years of employment in a pub-
                                                                     22                                  lic service job, 15 percent of the total
                                                                     23                                  amount due on the eligible Federal Direct
                                                                     24                                  Loan on the date the borrower commenced



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                                                                     25                                  employment in such public service job.


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                                                                       1                                         ‘‘(iii) In the case of a borrower who
                                                                       2                                 completes 6 years of employment in a pub-
                                                                       3                                 lic service job, 20 percent of the total
                                                                       4                                 amount due on the eligible Federal Direct
                                                                       5                                 Loan on the date the borrower commenced
                                                                       6                                 employment in such public service job.
                                                                       7                                         ‘‘(iv) In the case of a borrower who
                                                                       8                                 completes 8 years of employment in a pub-
                                                                       9                                 lic service job, 20 percent of the total
                                                                     10                                  amount due on the eligible Federal Direct
                                                                     11                                  Loan on the date the borrower commenced
                                                                     12                                  employment in such public service job.
                                                                     13                                          ‘‘(v) In the case of a borrower who
                                                                     14                                  completes 10 years of employment in a
                                                                     15                                  public service job, 30 percent of the total
                                                                     16                                  amount due on the eligible Federal Direct
                                                                     17                                  Loan on the date the borrower commenced
                                                                     18                                  employment in such public service job.
                                                                     19                                  ‘‘(C)           EMPLOYMENT                         CERTIFICATION

                                                                     20                         FORM.—

                                                                     21                                          ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive
                                                                     22                                  loan cancellation under this paragraph, a
                                                                     23                                  borrower shall submit to the Secretary an
                                                                     24                                  employment certification form that is de-



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                                                                     25                                  veloped by the Secretary and includes self-


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                                                                       1                                 certification of employment and a separate
                                                                       2                                 part for employer certification that indi-
                                                                       3                                 cates the dates of employment.
                                                                       4                                         ‘‘(ii) DEFERMENT.—If a borrower
                                                                       5                                 submits to the Secretary the employment
                                                                       6                                 certification form described in clause (i),
                                                                       7                                 during the period in which the borrower is
                                                                       8                                 employed in a public service job for which
                                                                       9                                 loan cancellation is eligible under this
                                                                     10                                  paragraph, the borrower’s eligible Federal
                                                                     11                                  Direct Loan shall be placed in deferment.
                                                                     12                                  ‘‘(D) INTEREST CANCELED.—If a portion
                                                                     13                         of a loan is canceled under this paragraph for
                                                                     14                         any year, the entire amount of interest on such
                                                                     15                         loan that accrues for such year shall be can-
                                                                     16                         celed.’’.
                                                                     17               (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR COVID–19 EMPLOYMENT
                                                                     18 DISRUPTIONS.—
                                                                     19                         (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
                                                                     20                                  (A) EMPLOYMENT DISRUPTION.—The term
                                                                     21                         ‘‘employment disruption’’ means a lapse in an
                                                                     22                         individual’s employment that is related to the
                                                                     23                         novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID–19),
                                                                     24                         such as a furlough or reduction in force by the



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                                                                       1                        employer or the individual’s resignation due to
                                                                       2                        illness or family caregiving responsibilities.
                                                                       3                                 (B) PUBLIC                 SERVICE             JOB.—The        term
                                                                       4                        ‘‘public service job’’ has the meaning given the
                                                                       5                        term in section 455(m)(3) of the Higher Edu-
                                                                       6                        cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)(3)).
                                                                       7                                 (C) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term
                                                                       8                        ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ has the meaning given
                                                                       9                        the term in section 3502 of division A of the
                                                                     10                         Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
                                                                     11                         Act (Public Law 116–136).
                                                                     12                                  (D) QUALIFYING INDIVIDUAL.—The term
                                                                     13                         ‘‘qualifying individual’’ means an individual
                                                                     14                         who—
                                                                     15                                          (i) has a loan that qualifies for public
                                                                     16                                  service loan forgiveness under section
                                                                     17                                  455(m) of the Higher Education Act of
                                                                     18                                  1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)); and
                                                                     19                                          (ii) during the qualifying emergency
                                                                     20                                  period—
                                                                     21                                                   (I) was employed in a public
                                                                     22                                          service job; and
                                                                     23                                                   (II) experiences an employment
                                                                     24                                          disruption with respect to the public



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                                                                       1                                         service job and no longer is employed
                                                                       2                                         in a public service job.
                                                                       3                        (2) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), in
                                                                       4              administering the public service loan forgiveness pro-
                                                                       5              gram under section 455(m) of the Higher Education
                                                                       6              Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) with respect to
                                                                       7              periods of employment and payments due during the
                                                                       8              qualifying emergency—
                                                                       9                                 (A) each qualifying individual shall be
                                                                     10                         deemed an individual employed in a public serv-
                                                                     11                         ice job during the period of the qualifying emer-
                                                                     12                         gency for purposes of such program; and
                                                                     13                                  (B) any monthly payment made by a quali-
                                                                     14                         fying individual during the qualifying emer-
                                                                     15                         gency (including a payment deemed made under
                                                                     16                         section 3513(c) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
                                                                     17                         and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116–
                                                                     18                         136)) shall be deemed to be a monthly payment
                                                                     19                         made by an individual employed in a public
                                                                     20                         service job for purposes of such program.
                                                                     21                         (3) SPECIAL RULE.—Paragraph (2) shall only
                                                                     22               apply to a qualifying individual who resumes employ-
                                                                     23               ment in any public service job by the date that is 6
                                                                     24               months after the last day of the qualifying emer-



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                                                                     25               gency, except that any qualifying individual who, as


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                                                                       1              a result of the application of paragraph (2), would
                                                                       2              have completed the requirements for full or partial
                                                                       3              loan cancellation under paragraph (2) or (5) of sec-
                                                                       4              tion 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
                                                                       5              (as amended by this Act) during the qualifying
                                                                       6              emergency, shall receive such loan cancellation with-
                                                                       7              out any required resumption of public service job
                                                                       8              employment.
                                                                       9                        (4) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after
                                                                     10               the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
                                                                     11               Education shall develop and make available guidance
                                                                     12               for qualifying individuals regarding the assistance
                                                                     13               available under this subsection.
                                                                                                                                Æ




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