Frontline Health Care Worker Student Loan Assistance Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8393 To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the frontline in response to COVID–19. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee 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 consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the frontline 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 ‘‘Frontline Health Care 4 Worker Student Loan Assistance Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FRONTLINE HEALTH 6 CARE WORKERS. 7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8393 IH (1) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—Begin- 1 ning on the date that is 90 days after the date of 2 enactment of this Act, the Secretaries concerned 3 shall, subject to paragraph (3), forgive, in accord- 4 ance with this section, the qualified loan amount de- 5 scribed in subsection (b) of the student loan obliga- 6 tion of a borrower who is a frontline health care 7 worker (or whose child is a frontline health care 8 worker, in the case of a borrower of a loan described 9 in section 9(4)(B)). 10 (2) METHODS OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—To provide loan for- 12 giveness under paragraph (1) to each borrower 13 who is a frontline health care worker, the Secre- 14 taries concerned shall carry out a program— 15 (i) through the holder of the loan, to 16 assume the obligation to repay, by direct 17 payments on behalf of a borrower to the 18 holder of such loan, a qualified loan 19 amount for an eligible Federal student 20 loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 21 part B of title IV of the Higher Education 22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 23 (ii) to cancel a qualified loan amount 24 for an eligible Federal student loan made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8393 IH under part D or part E of such title (20 1 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.; 1087aa et seq.); and 2 (iii) to assume the obligation to repay, 3 by direct payments on behalf of a borrower 4 to the private educational lender of such 5 loan, a qualified loan amount of an eligible 6 private student loan in order to discharge 7 the borrower of such loan from any re- 8 maining obligation to the private edu- 9 cational lender with respect to such quali- 10 fied loan amount. 11 (B) FORGIVENESS THROUGH REIMBURSE- 12 MENT.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for 13 each borrower who is a frontline health care 14 worker and who has made one or more monthly 15 payments toward the— 16 (i) outstanding eligible Federal stu- 17 dent loan balance of the borrower during 18 the covered period, the Secretary of Edu- 19 cation shall reimburse the borrower, 20 through direct payment to the borrower, in 21 an amount equal to the total amount of 22 such monthly payments made by the bor- 23 rower on or after January 31, 2020, and 24 before the first date on which any portion 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Oct 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8393 IH of a borrower’s loans are forgiven in ac- 1 cordance with subparagraph (A); and 2 (ii) outstanding eligible private stu- 3 dent loan balance of the borrower during 4 the covered period, the Secretary of the 5 Treasury shall reimburse the borrower, 6 through direct payment to the borrower, in 7 an amount equal to the total amount of 8 such monthly payments made by the bor- 9 rower on or after January 31, 2020, and 10 before the first date on which any portion 11 of a borrower’s loans are forgiven in ac- 12 cordance with subparagraph (A). 13 (3) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARIES CON- 14 CERNED.—The Secretary of Education shall have 15 the authority to carry out the loan forgiveness pro- 16 gram authorized under this section only with respect 17 to eligible Federal student loans, and the Secretary 18 of the Treasury shall have the authority to carry out 19 such loan forgiveness program only with respect to 20 eligible private student loans. 21 (b) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 22 (1) TOTAL AMOUNT.—The Secretaries con- 23 cerned shall forgive for each borrower who is a 24 frontline health care worker an amount equal to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Oct 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8393 IH sum of the monthly loan payments that are due, sus- 1 pended, or paid on each eligible Federal student loan 2 and each eligible private student loan of the bor- 3 rower during the covered period. Each monthly loan 4 payment that is included in the qualified loan 5 amount of such a borrower shall be paid, pursuant 6 to paragraph (2), in accordance with either subpara- 7 graph (A) or subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(2), 8 but not both. 9 (2) METHODS OF FORGIVENESS OF QUALIFIED 10 LOAN AMOUNT.—The Secretaries concerned shall de- 11 termine the method of forgiveness for each monthly 12 loan payment included in a qualified loan amount as 13 follows: 14 (A) The Secretaries concerned shall pro- 15 vide forgiveness in accordance with subpara- 16 graph (A) of subsection (a)(2) for— 17 (i) each monthly loan payment during 18 the covered period that is due on or after 19 the date that is 90 days after the date of 20 enactment of this Act; 21 (ii) each monthly loan payment during 22 the covered period that is due before the 23 date that is 90 days after the date of en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8393 IH actment of this Act and has not been paid 1 before such date; and 2 (iii) the total amount of the monthly 3 loan payments that are suspended as a re- 4 sult of a qualifying emergency pursuant to 5 section 3513 of the CARES Act (20 6 U.S.C. 1001 note) or at the direction of 7 the Secretary of Education, determined by 8 calculating the sum of the amounts of each 9 monthly loan payment that would have 10 been due during the covered period if 11 monthly loan payments were not sus- 12 pended. 13 (B) The Secretaries concerned shall pro- 14 vide forgiveness in accordance with subpara- 15 graph (B) of subsection (a)(2) for the total 16 amount of monthly loan payments during the 17 period beginning on January 31, 2020, and 18 ending on the date that is 90 days after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, that have been 20 paid by the borrower on or before the termi- 21 nation of such period. 22 (c) CONSIDERATION OF PAYMENTS.—Notwith- 23 standing any other provision of the Higher Education Act 24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Secretary of Edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8393 IH cation shall deem each month for which a loan payment 1 was forgiven under this section as if the borrower of the 2 loan had made a payment for the purpose of any loan for- 3 giveness program or loan rehabilitation program author- 4 ized under part B or D of title IV of the Higher Education 5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.; 1087a et seq.) for 6 which the borrower would have otherwise qualified. 7 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 8 qualified loan amount of a borrower that is forgiven under 9 this section, including through reimbursement pursuant to 10 subsection (a)(2)(B), shall not be included in the gross 11 income of the borrower for purposes of the Internal Rev- 12 enue Code of 1986. 13 SEC. 3. COORDINATED PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 14 The Secretaries concerned shall jointly develop the 15 program required under section 2, and shall coordinate 16 and consult with one another in carrying out such pro- 17 gram to ensure that— 18 (1) borrowers with outstanding eligible Federal 19 student loans and borrowers with outstanding eligi- 20 ble private student loans are notified of the avail- 21 ability of student loan forgiveness under this Act; 22 (2) frontline health care workers who are bor- 23 rowers of both eligible Federal student loans and eli- 24 gible private student loans may apply for loan for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8393 IH giveness of both Federal and private student loans 1 under section 2 with submission of only one applica- 2 tion; 3 (3) determinations of eligibility are uniform and 4 consistent, regardless of whether the frontline health 5 care worker is a borrower of eligible Federal student 6 loans, eligible private student loans, or both; and 7 (4) such program is made available to any 8 frontline health care worker (including a worker who 9 does not meet the definition of frontline health care 10 worker solely because such worker did not complete 11 at least 3 months of full-time service (or the equiva- 12 lent) prior to death) who was a borrower of eligible 13 Federal student loans, eligible private student loans, 14 or both, and who died as a result of the coronavirus, 15 to relieve the family and estate of such deceased 16 worker of the burden of the student loan obligation 17 of the such deceased worker. 18 SEC. 4. NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF LOAN FORGIVENESS. 19 (a) NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.—Not later than 15 days 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries 21 concerned, in consultation with institutions of higher edu- 22 cation and lenders and holders of Federal student loans 23 and private education loans, shall take such actions as 24 may be necessary to ensure that borrowers who have out- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8393 IH standing eligible Federal student loans, outstanding eligi- 1 ble private student loans, or both, are aware of the student 2 loan forgiveness program authorized by this Act. Such in- 3 formation shall— 4 (1) be presented in a form that is widely avail- 5 able to the public, especially to borrowers with eligi- 6 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 7 loans, or both, and to frontline health care workers; 8 (2) be easily understandable; and 9 (3) clearly notify borrowers that to be consid- 10 ered for loan forgiveness under this Act, borrowers 11 must submit an application to the Secretaries con- 12 cerned, and must do so during the application period 13 described in section 5. 14 (b) NOTICE IN FEDERAL LOANS STATEMENTS.— 15 With each billing statement sent to a borrower during the 16 two-year period beginning on the 15th day after the date 17 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 18 include, and shall require each holder of eligible Federal 19 student loans to include, a notice informing the borrower 20 of the availability of the student loan forgiveness program 21 for frontline health care workers under this Act, including 22 where to find information about how to qualify as a front- 23 line health care worker, how to apply to such program, 24 the types of Federal and private loans that are eligible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8393 IH for forgiveness, and the application deadline for such pro- 1 gram. 2 (c) NOTICE IN PRIVATE LOANS STATEMENTS.—Sec- 3 tion 128(e) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 4 1638(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 5 new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(12) NOTICE REQUIRED ALONG WITH BILLING 7 STATEMENTS.—With each billing statement sent to 8 the borrower during the two-year period beginning 9 on the 15th day after the date of enactment of the 10 Frontline Health Care Worker Student Loan Assist- 11 ance Act of 2020, the private educational lender 12 shall include a notice informing the borrower of the 13 availability of the student loan forgiveness program 14 for frontline health care workers under the Frontline 15 Health Care Worker Student Loan Assistance Act of 16 2020, including where to find information about how 17 to qualify as a frontline health care worker, how to 18 apply to such program, the types of Federal and pri- 19 vate loans that are eligible for forgiveness, and the 20 application deadline for such program.’’. 21 SEC. 5. APPLICATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGI- 22 BILITY. 23 (a) APPLICATION PERIOD.—An individual may apply 24 for loan forgiveness under section 2 by submitting an ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8393 IH plication to the Secretaries concerned during the period 1 that begins on the date that is 60 days after the date of 2 enactment of this Act and that ends on the date that is 3 2 years after the end of the covered period. 4 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 5 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION.—Not 6 later than 45 days after the date of enactment of 7 this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall jointly, in 8 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 9 Human Services and the Intergovernmental Working 10 Group (in accordance with section 6), develop one 11 application for borrowers of both eligible Federal 12 student loans and eligible private student loans to 13 apply for loan forgiveness under this Act. 14 (2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The appli- 15 cation required under paragraph (1) may only in- 16 clude such information as is necessary for the Secre- 17 taries concerned to— 18 (A) make a determination of whether the 19 applicant— 20 (i) is a frontline health care worker; 21 and 22 (ii) is a borrower of an eligible Fed- 23 eral student loan, an eligible private stu- 24 dent loan, or both; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8393.IH H8393 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8393 IH (B) determine the qualified loan amount of 1 the applicant, if the application is approved, in- 2 cluding the amount described in section 3 [Text truncated for display. 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