II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1384 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize borrowers to 

separate joint consolidation loans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2017 

Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize 

borrowers to separate joint consolidation loans. 

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 ‘‘Joint Consolidation 

5 Loan Separation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SEPARATING JOINT CONSOLIDATION LOANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(g) of the Higher 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(g)) is amend9 ed— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘A borrower’’ and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A borrower’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) SEPARATING JOINT CONSOLIDATION

6 LOANS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A married couple, or 

8 2 individuals who were previously a married 

9 couple, and who received a joint consolidation 

10 loan as such married couple under subpara11 graph (C) of section 428C(a)(3) (as such sub12 paragraph was in effect on or before June 30, 

13 2006), may apply to the Secretary for each in14 dividual borrower in the married couple (or pre15 viously married couple) to receive a separate 

16 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan under this 

17 part— 

18 ‘‘(i) that shall be equal to the sum 

19 of— 

20 ‘‘(I) the unpaid principal and ac21 crued unpaid interest of the percent22 age of the joint consolidation loan 

23 that, as of the day before such joint 

24 consolidation loan was made, was at25 tributable to the loans of the indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1384.IS S1384

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1 vidual borrower for whom such sepa2 rate consolidation loan is being made; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) any other loans described in 

5 section 428C(a)(4) that such indi6 vidual borrower selects for consolida7 tion under this part; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the proceeds of which shall be 

9 paid by the Secretary to the holder or 

10 holders— 

11 ‘‘(I) of the joint consolidation 

12 loan for the purpose of discharging 

13 the liability on the percentage of such 

14 joint consolidation loan described in 

15 clause (i)(I); and 

16 ‘‘(II) of the loans selected for 

17 consolidation under clause (i)(II) for 

18 the purpose of discharging the liability 

19 on such loans; 

20 ‘‘(iii) except as otherwise provided in 

21 this paragraph, that has the same terms 

22 and conditions, and rate of interest as the 

23 joint consolidation loan; 

24 ‘‘(iv) for which any payment made 

25 under section 455(m)(1)(A) on the joint 


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1 consolidation loan during a period in which 

2 the individual borrower for whom such sep3 arate consolidation loan is being made was 

4 employed in a public service job described 

5 in section 455(m)(1)(B) shall be treated as 

6 if such payment were made on such sepa7 rate consolidation loan; and 

8 ‘‘(v) for which any payment made 

9 under an income contingent repayment 

10 plan or an income-based repayment plan 

11 described in subparagraph (D) or (E) of 

12 section 455(d)(1), respectively, on the joint 

13 consolidation loan shall be treated as if 

14 such payment were made on such separate 

15 consolidation loan. 

16 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION FOR SEPARATE DIRECT

17 CONSOLIDATION LOAN.— 

18 ‘‘(i) JOINT APPLICATION.—Except as 

19 provided in clause (ii), to receive separate 

20 consolidation loans under subparagraph 

21 (A), both individual borrowers in a married 

22 couple (or previously married couple) shall 

23 jointly apply under subparagraph (A). 

24 ‘‘(ii) SEPARATE APPLICATION.—An 

25 individual borrower in a married couple (or 


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1 previously married couple) may apply for a 

2 separate consolidation loan under subpara3 graph (A) separately and without regard to 

4 whether or when the other individual bor5 rower in the married couple (or previously 

6 married couple) applies under subpara7 graph (A), in a case in which— 

8 ‘‘(I) the individual borrower has 

9 experienced from the other individual 

10 borrower— 

11 ‘‘(aa) domestic violence (as 

12 defined in section 40002(a) of 

13 the Violence Against Women Act 

14 of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a))); 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(bb) economic abuse (in17 cluding behaviors that control 

18 such borrower’s ability to ac19 quire, use, and maintain access 

20 to money, credit, or the joint fi21 nancial obligations of both bor22 rowers); 

23 ‘‘(II) the individual borrower cer24 tifies, on a form approved by the Sec25 retary, that such borrower is unable 


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1 to reasonably reach or access the loan 

2 information of the other individual 

3 borrower; or 

4 ‘‘(III) the Secretary determines 

5 that authorizing each individual bor6 rower to apply separately under sub7 paragraph (A) would be in the best 

8 fiscal interests of the Federal Govern9 ment. 

10 ‘‘(C) BORROWER ELIGIBILITY.—Notwith11 standing section 428C(a)(3)(A), the Secretary 

12 shall award a consolidation loan under this part 

13 to each borrower who— 

14 ‘‘(i) applies for such loan under sub15 paragraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of sub17 paragraphs (A) and (B).’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 428C(a)(3)(B)(i)(V) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 1078–3(3)(B)(i)(V)) is amended— 

21 (1) in item (bb), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

22 semicolon; 

23 (2) in item (cc), by striking the period and in24 serting ‘‘; or’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(dd) for the purpose of sep2 arating a joint consolidation loan 

3 into 2 separate Federal Direct 

4 Consolidation Loans under sec5 tion 455(g)(2).’’. 

Æ 


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