Congressional Record, Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020) — Senate, Pages S7554-S7555

Summary

Senate pages S7554-S7555 of the Congressional Record for Wednesday, December 16, 2020 print amendment SA 2710, proposed by Moran for Braun as a substitute for bill S. 1387, cited as the Consider Teachers Act. A TEACH Grant recipient whose grant was converted into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan may ask the Secretary to reconsider, and the Secretary must do so not later than 90 days after the request. If the recipient met the service obligation, the Secretary must discharge the loan and its interest, reinstate the grant and extend the time to serve. The text extends the service obligation window by not more than 3 years for recipients affected by the COVID-19 qualifying emergency period.

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[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7554-S7555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2710. Mr. MORAN (for Mr. Braun) proposed an amendment to the bill
S. 1387, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve
the service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients,
and for other purposes; as follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Consider Teachers Act''.

     SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS.

       Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
     1070g-2) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
       (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(referred to in
     this section as the `service obligation window')'' after
     ``under this subpart'';
       (B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting ``or geographic
     area'' after ``field''; and
       (C) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) and inserting the
     following:
       ``(D) submit a certification of employment by the chief
     administrative officer of the school in accordance with
     subsection (d)(5); and
       ``(E) meet all State certification requirements for
     teaching (which may include meeting such requirements through
     a certification obtained through alternative routes to
     teaching);'';
       (2) in subsection (c)--
       (A) by striking ``In the event'' and inserting the
     following:
       ``(1) In general.--In the event''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) Reconsideration of conversion decisions.--
       ``(A) Request to reconsider.--In any case where the
     Secretary has determined that a recipient of a grant under
     this subpart has failed or refused to comply with the service
     obligation in the agreement under subsection (b) and has
     converted the grant into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized
     Stafford Loan under part D in accordance with paragraph (1),
     the recipient may request that the Secretary reconsider such
     initial determination and may submit additional information
     to demonstrate satisfaction of the service obligation. Upon
     receipt of such a request, the Secretary shall reconsider the
     determination in accordance with this paragraph not later
     than 90 days after the date that such request was received.
       ``(B) Reconsideration.--If, in reconsidering an initial
     determination under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
     determines that the reason for such determination was the
     recipient's failure to timely submit a certification required
     under subsection (b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day before
     the date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act), an error
     or processing delay by the Secretary, a change to the fields
     considered eligible for fulfillment of the service obligation
     (as described in subsection (b)(1)(C)), a recipient having
     previously requested to have the TEACH Grant converted to a
     loan, or another valid reason determined by the Secretary,
     and that the recipient has, as of the date of the
     reconsideration, demonstrated that the recipient did meet, or
     is meeting the service obligation in the agreement under
     subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
       ``(i) discharge the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford
     Loan under part D, and reinstate the recipient's grant under
     this subpart;
       ``(ii) discharge any interest or fees that may have
     accumulated during the period that the grant was converted to
     a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D;
       ``(iii) if the recipient has other loans under part D,
     apply any payments made for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized
     Stafford Loan under part D during such period to those other
     loans under part D;
       ``(iv) if the recipient does not have other loans under
     part D, reimburse the recipient for any amounts paid on the
     Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D during
     such period;
       ``(v) request that consumer reporting agencies remove any
     negative credit reporting due to the conversion of the TEACH
     Grant to a loan; and

[[Page S7555]]

       ``(vi) use the additional information provided under
     subparagraph (A) to determine the progress the recipient has
     made in meeting the service obligation.
       ``(C) Extension of time to complete service obligation.--In
     the case of a recipient whose TEACH Grant was reinstated in
     accordance with subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall, upon
     such reinstatement--
       ``(i) extend the time remaining for the recipient to
     fulfill the service obligation described in subsection (b)(1)
     to a period of time equal to--

       ``(I) 8 years; minus
       ``(II) the number of full academic years of teaching that
     the recipient completed prior to the reconversion of the loan
     to a TEACH Grant under subparagraph (B), including any years
     of qualifying teaching completed during the period when the
     TEACH Grant was in loan status; and

       ``(ii) treat any full academic years of teaching described
     in clause (i)(II) as years that count toward the individual's
     service obligation (regardless of whether the TEACH Grant
     funds were in grant or loan status) if that time otherwise
     meets the requirements of this section.''; and
       (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Communication with recipients.--The Secretary shall
     notify TEACH grant recipients not less than once per calendar
     year regarding how to submit the employment certification
     under subsection (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and
     requirements for submitting that certification under
     subsection (d)(5).
       ``(4) Qualifying schools and high-need fields.--The
     Secretary shall maintain and annually update a list of
     qualifying schools as described in subsection (b)(1)(B), and
     a list of high-need fields as described in subsection
     (b)(1)(C) and shall make such lists publicly available on the
     Department's website in a sortable and searchable format.''.

     SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION.

       Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
     U.S.C. 1070g-2(d)), as amended by section 2, is further
     amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(5) Submission of employment certification.--
       ``(A) Recommended submissions.--The Secretary shall notify
     TEACH Grant recipients that the Department recommends that
     TEACH Grant recipients submit the employment certification
     described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon as practicable
     after the completion of each year of service.
       ``(B) Required submission.--A TEACH Grant recipient shall
     be required to submit to the Department employment
     certification within the timeframe that would allow that
     individual to complete their service obligation before the
     end of the service obligation window.
       ``(C) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify TEACH Grant
     recipients of the required submission deadlines described in
     this paragraph.
       ``(D) Adjustment of deadline.--The Secretary shall adjust
     the submission deadline described in subparagraph (B) to
     account for a service obligation window extension.
       ``(E) Alternative to certification.--The Secretary shall
     provide an alternative to the certification of employment
     described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for recipients who cannot
     obtain such required certification of employment from the
     chief administrative officer of the school because the
     recipient can demonstrate the school is no longer in
     existence or the school refuses to cooperate.''.

     SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGATION DUE
                   TO COVID-19.

       (a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136;
     20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
     ``For the purpose of section 420N of the Higher Education Act
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2), during a qualifying emergency,''
     and inserting ``Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of
     part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
     U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),'';
       (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the
     semicolon;
       (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ``such section 420N.''
     and inserting ``section 420N of such Act; and''; and
       (4) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) shall extend the service obligation window (as
     described in section 420N(b)(1)(A) of such Act) for a period
     of not more than 3 years, in addition to any extensions
     provided in accordance with subpart 9 of part A of title IV
     of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et
     seq.), in the case of a grant recipient whose service
     obligation window begins during, or includes--
       ``(A) the qualifying emergency period; or
       ``(B) a period of recession or economic downturn related to
     the qualifying emergency period, as determined by the
     Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.''.
       (b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20
     U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by adding at the end the
     following:
       ``(c) Federal Perkins Loans.--Notwithstanding section 465
     of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee), the
     Secretary shall waive the requirements of such section in
     regard to full-time service and shall consider an incomplete
     year of service of a borrower as fulfilling the requirement
     for a complete year of service under such section, if the
     service was interrupted due to a qualifying emergency.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the
     CARES Act (Public Law 116-136).

     SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION.

       In carrying out this Act and any amendments made by this
     Act, or any regulations promulgated under this Act or under
     such amendments, the Secretary of Education may waive the
     application of--
       (1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States
     Code (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'');
       (2) the master calendar requirements under section 482 of
     the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089);
       (3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of the Higher
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a); and
       (4) the requirement to publish the notices related to the
     system of records of the agency before implementation
     required under paragraphs (4) and (11) of section 552a(e) of
     title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy
     Act of 1974''), except that the notices shall be published
     not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
     Act.
                                 ______

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