I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2040 

To simplify the process for determining the need and eligibility of students 

for financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2013 

Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To simplify the process for determining the need and eligibility of students for financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Student Financial Aid 

5 Simplification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION. 

7 Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1090) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The 

3 Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection 

4 (i), the Secretary’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘The 

6 need’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection (i), 

7 the need’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(i) FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect to 

12 academic year 2014–2015 and each succeeding aca13 demic year and notwithstanding subsection (a)(6) 

14 and any other provision of this section, with respect 

15 to a student who is a taxpayer or a dependent of a 

16 taxpayer and who does not meet the requirements of 

17 subsection (b) or (c) of section 479, the need and 

18 eligibility of such student for financial assistance 

19 under part A through E (other than subpart 4 of 

20 part A) may be determined only by— 

21 ‘‘(A) authorizing the Secretary to obtain 

22 from the Internal Revenue Service income data, 

23 and other taxpayer data needed to compute an 

24 expected family contribution for the student, 


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1 from two years prior to the student’s planned 

2 enrollment date; and 

3 ‘‘(B) submitting to the Secretary the sup4 plemental information described in paragraph 

5 (3). 

6 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION UNDER THE IRC AND DIS7 TRIBUTION OF DATA.—Returns and return informa8 tion (as defined in section 6103 of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986) may be obtained under para10 graph (1)(A) only to the extent authorized by section 

11 6103(l)(23) of such Code, except that institutions of 

12 higher education and States shall receive, without 

13 charge, such information from the Secretary for the 

14 purposes of processing loan applications and deter15 mining need and eligibility for institutional and 

16 State financial aid awards. 

17 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION.—Each 

18 student described in paragraph (1) who is applying 

19 for financial assistance under parts A through E 

20 (other than under subpart 4 of part A) shall submit 

21 to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 

22 as required by the Secretary, any information that 

23 is needed to determine the student’s need and eligi24 bility for such financial assistance or to administer 

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1 able from the Internal Revenue Service to the extent 

2 authorized by section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986, including information with 

4 respect to the student’s— 

5 ‘‘(A) citizenship or permanent residency 

6 status; 

7 ‘‘(B) dependency status; 

8 ‘‘(C) registration for selective service; 

9 ‘‘(D) State of legal residence; 

10 ‘‘(E) family members, including the total 

11 number and the number in postsecondary edu12 cation; 

13 ‘‘(F) secondary school completion status; 

14 ‘‘(G) drug conviction status; 

15 ‘‘(H) completion of a first bachelor’s de16 gree; 

17 ‘‘(I) email address; and 

18 ‘‘(J) institution or institutions of higher 

19 education in which the student is enrolled or to 

20 which the student is applying for admission. 

21 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary 

24 to carry out this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INAPPLICABILITY OF RULEMAKING

2 REQUIREMENTS.—Sections 482(c) and 492 

3 shall not apply to the regulations required by 

4 this paragraph.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE 

6 OF 1986. 

7 Section 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new para9 graph: 

10 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

11 TO DETERMINE THE NEED AND ELIGIBILITY OF A

12 STUDENT FOR FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL

13 AID.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, 

15 upon written request from the Secretary of 

16 Education, disclose to officers and employees of 

17 the Department of Education return informa18 tion with respect to a taxpayer or a dependent 

19 of a taxpayer who may be eligible for Federal 

20 student financial aid and whose need and eligi21 bility for such aid is based in whole or in part 

22 on the taxpayer’s income or the income of the 

23 parents of the dependent. Such return informa24 tion shall be limited to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) taxpayer identity information 

2 with respect to such taxpayer; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the filing status of such tax4 payer; 

5 ‘‘(iii) the adjusted gross income of 

6 such taxpayer; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) any other data of such taxpayer 

8 necessary to determine the expected family 

9 contribution (within the meaning of part F 

10 of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.)) of such 

12 taxpayer or the dependent of such tax13 payer, as applicable. 

14 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED

15 INFORMATION.—Return information disclosed 

16 under subparagraph (A) may be used by offi17 cers and employees of the Department of Edu18 cation only for the purposes of, and to the ex19 tent necessary in, processing the student loan 

20 application, and establishing need and eligibility 

21 for Federal student financial aid, of a taxpayer 

22 or a dependent of a taxpayer. 

23 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS AND

24 GRANTS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

25 term ‘Federal student financial aid’ means fiVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:32 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2040.IH H2040

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1 nancial assistance under part A through E 

2 (other than under subpart 4 of part A) of title 

3 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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