II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5023 

To suspend and reform the authority under the Higher Education Act of 

1965 for the Secretary of Education to carry out an administrative 

wage garnishment program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To suspend and reform the authority under the Higher Education Act of 1965 for the Secretary of Education to 

carry out an administrative wage garnishment program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Administrative 

5 Garnishment Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF WAGE GARNISHMENT. 

7 Section 488A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1095a) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) SUSPENSION OF AUTHORITY.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 

3 enactment of the Ending Administrative Garnish4 ment Act of 2020, the authority provided under sub5 section (a) to garnish the disposable pay of an indi6 vidual shall be suspended until the date the Sec7 retary submits to the Committee on Health, Edu8 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

9 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

10 Representatives the certification described in para11 graph (2). 

12 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—Not earlier than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of the Ending Adminis14 trative Garnishment Act of 2020, the Secretary shall 

15 submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 

16 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com17 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

18 Representatives a certification that either— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Secretary has implemented a 

20 process through which— 

21 ‘‘(i) individuals who have had their 

22 disposable pay improperly garnished in vio23 lation of this section, or of any other in24 struction by the Secretary, are able to have 

25 their refund processed and returned to 


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1 them not later than one calendar week 

2 after the date of such violation; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary can independently 

4 cease or suspend the administrative wage 

5 garnishment program authorized under 

6 this section at any time, at the sole discre7 tion of the Secretary, including suspension 

8 of the garnishment of any individual stu9 dent loan borrower or a cohort of bor10 rowers; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary obtains a quar12 terly verification from each employer 

13 through which garnishment is carried out 

14 under this section that all information nec15 essary to implement garnishment under 

16 this section with respect to an individual 

17 employee is accurate, including an estimate 

18 of the amount scheduled to be garnished in 

19 the subsequent quarter, and the name, ad20 dress, phone number, and email address 

21 for both the employee and the employer; or 

22 ‘‘(B) the Secretary is unable to implement 

23 the process described in subparagraph (A) and 

24 has determined that the garnishment of the disVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jan 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5023.IS S5023

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1 posable pay shall not apply to individuals as au2 thorized under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary sub5 mits a certification under paragraph (2) that 

6 the Secretary has implemented the process de7 scribed in paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary, 

8 upon submission of such certification, shall es9 tablish a centralized database containing— 

10 ‘‘(i) the addresses, occupations, em11 ployers, and other collectible demographic 

12 data of individuals whose disposable pay 

13 was subject to garnishment under this sec14 tion on the day before the date of enact15 ment of the Ending Administrative Gar16 nishment Act of 2020; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the addresses, occupations, em18 ployers, and other collectible demographic 

19 data of individuals whose disposable pay is 

20 subject to garnishment under subsection 

21 (a). 

22 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date the Secretary establishes the 

24 database under subparagraph (A), and not less 

25 often than annually thereafter, the Secretary 


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1 shall submit a report to the Committee on 

2 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

3 Senate and the Committee on Education and 

4 Labor of the House of Representatives summa5 rizing the information contained in the database 

6 and evaluating the exercise of the Secretary’s 

7 authority under subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(g) RIGHT OF ACTION AGAINST EMPLOYER.—The 

9 employer shall be liable for, and the Secretary, the guar10 anty agency, or an individual, as appropriate, may sue the 

11 employer in a State or Federal court of competent juris12 diction to recover, any amount that such employer improp13 erly withholds from wages due an employee following re14 ceipt by such employer of notice of suspension or revoca15 tion of the withholding order, and actual damages, plus 

16 attorneys’ fees, costs, and, in the court’s discretion, puni17 tive damages. 

18 ‘‘(h) DEPARTMENT ACTION AFTER IMPROPER GAR19 NISHMENT.—Not later than 10 days after the date the 

20 Secretary receives an individual’s disposable pay that has 

21 been improperly garnished, the Secretary shall pay the 

22 borrower twice the actual amount of wages garnished. 

23 Notwithstanding section 432(a)(2), an injunction against 

24 the Secretary may be issued to enforce this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(i) LIMITS ON USE.—The Secretary may not gar2 nish the disposable pay of an individual under this section 

3 with respect to a loan that has been outstanding for more 

4 than 10 years.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. PARITY WITH INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT. 

6 Section 488A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1095a) is amended by striking subsection 

8 (a)(1) and inserting: 

9 ‘‘(1)(A) PARITY WITH INCOME-DRIVEN REPAY10 MENT.—The amount deducted in any calendar 

11 month shall not exceed the amount that a similarly12 situated individual would be required to make for 

13 such month under the income-driven repayment plan 

14 that offers the lowest monthly payment. 

15 ‘‘(B) INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT DEFINED.— 

16 In this subsection, the term ‘income-driven repay17 ment’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) income-based repayment authorized 

19 under section 493C for loans made, insured, or 

20 guaranteed under part B or part D; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) income contingent repayment author22 ized under section 455(e), for loans made under 

23 part D. 

24 ‘‘(C) SIMILARLY-SITUATED INDIVIDUAL DE25 FINED.—With respect to an individual, the term 


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1 ‘similarly situated individual’ means another indi2 vidual with an eligible loan who would be eligible to 

3 enroll in income-driven repayment and has the same 

4 income and family size characteristics.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. COLLECTION AND COMPROMISE. 

6 Section 3711 of title 31, United States Code, is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE UNITED

9 STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

11 shall permit the Secretary of Education to exercise 

12 any authority under this section without first satis13 fying the requirements established under section 

14 488A(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1095a(f)). 

16 ‘‘(2) PARITY WITH INCOME-DRIVEN REPAY17 MENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of law, for any debts owed to 

20 the Department of Education or insured by the 

21 Department of Education, the total amount col22 lected under this section shall not exceed the 

23 amount that a similarly situated individual 

24 would be required to make for such month 

25 under the income-driven repayment plan that 


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1 offers the lowest monthly payment, or by year 

2 in the case of a tax refund offset. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

4 ‘‘(i) INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT.— 

5 The term ‘income-driven repayment’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(I) income-based repayment au8 thorized under section 493C of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 1098e) for loans made, in11 sured, or guaranteed under part B or 

12 part D of title IV of such Act; or 

13 ‘‘(II) income contingent repay14 ment authorized under section 455(e) 

15 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087e(e)), for 

16 loans made under part D of title IV 

17 of such Act. 

18 ‘‘(ii) SIMILARLY SITUATED INDI19 VIDUAL.—With respect to an individual, 

20 the term ‘similarly situated individual’ 

21 means another individual with an eligible 

22 loan who would be eligible to enroll in in23 come-driven repayment and has the same 

24 income and family size characteristics. 


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1 ‘‘(3) LIMITS ON USE.—The Secretary of Edu2 cation shall not collect on a debt under the authority 

3 under this section of an individual with respect to a 

4 loan that has been outstanding for more than 10 

5 years.’’. 

Æ 


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