II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2136 

To expand the monthly payments that may be eligible for public service 

loan forgiveness. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To expand the monthly payments that may be eligible for 

public service loan forgiveness. 

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 ‘‘PSLF Technical Cor5 rections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 

7 1965. 

8 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

2 (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; 

3 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

5 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (i) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

9 after the semicolon; 

10 (ii) by striking clause (iii); and 

11 (iii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 

12 clause (iii); 

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPARABLE PAYMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to can17 celing the balance of interest and principal due 

18 for a borrower described in paragraph (1), the 

19 Secretary shall also cancel the balance of inter20 est and principal due, in accordance with para21 graph (3), on any eligible Federal Direct Loan 

22 not in default for a borrower who— 

23 ‘‘(i) is in a repayment plan based on 

24 income under subsection (e) or section 


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1 493C at the time that borrower applies for 

2 loan forgiveness under this subsection; 

3 ‘‘(ii) has made 120— 

4 ‘‘(I) qualifying monthly pay5 ments, as defined in subparagraph 

6 (B)(i), on the eligible Federal Direct 

7 Loan after October 1, 2007; 

8 ‘‘(II) qualifying monthly pay9 ments, as defined in subparagraph 

10 (B)(ii), on the eligible Federal Direct 

11 Loan after October 1, 2007; or 

12 ‘‘(III) total monthly payments 

13 that qualify for loan forgiveness under 

14 this subsection, which may include 

15 any combination of payments that 

16 otherwise qualify under paragraph 

17 (1), qualifying monthly payments de18 scribed in subclause (I), or qualifying 

19 monthly payments described in sub20 clause (II); 

21 ‘‘(iii) is employed in a public service 

22 job at the time of such forgiveness; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) has been employed in a public 

24 service job during the period in which the 


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1 borrower makes each of the 120 payments 

2 described in clause (ii). 

3 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT.— 

4 In this paragraph, the term ‘qualifying monthly 

5 payment’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i)(I) an initial monthly payment 

7 that was— 

8 ‘‘(aa) made under any re9 payment plan that is not de10 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) 

11 of paragraph (1)(A); and 

12 ‘‘(bb) of an amount that is 

13 not less than— 

14 ‘‘(AA) the monthly 

15 amount that the borrower is 

16 required to pay in the repay17 ment plan based on income 

18 described in subparagraph 

19 (A)(i); or 

20 ‘‘(BB) the monthly 

21 amount that the borrower 

22 would have been required to 

23 pay if the borrower had en24 tered a repayment plan 

25 based on income under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Nov 21, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2136.IS S2136

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1 section (e) or section 493C 

2 at the time the borrower en3 tered the repayment plan de4 scribed in item (aa); and 

5 ‘‘(II) every subsequent monthly pay6 ment that the borrower made after the ini7 tial payment described in subclause (I) and 

8 before the borrower entered the repayment 

9 plan based on income described in sub10 paragraph (A)(i); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a monthly payment certified 

12 through the extended review process de13 scribed in subparagraph (C). 

14 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT

15 THROUGH EXTENDED REVIEW.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A borrower who 

17 has not made 120 qualifying monthly pay18 ments, as defined in subparagraph (B)(i), 

19 may request that the Secretary complete 

20 an extended review of the borrower’s re21 payment history. 

22 ‘‘(ii) EXTENDED REVIEW.—If the Sec23 retary receives a request for an extended 

24 review described in clause (i), the Sec25 retary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for each month of past pay2 ments made under a plan that is not 

3 described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of 

4 paragraph (1)(A) after October 1, 

5 2007, determine the amount that the 

6 borrower would have been required to 

7 pay in that month (based on the bor8 rower’s income in that year or month) 

9 if the borrower had been on the repay10 ment plan based on income described 

11 in subparagraph (A)(i) in that month; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) certify as a qualifying 

14 monthly payment, any month for 

15 which the payment the borrower actu16 ally made in that month was not less 

17 than the amount of the payment cal18 culated under subclause (I) for that 

19 month.’’; and 

20 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para21 graph (1), by inserting ‘‘or paragraph (2), as the 

22 case may be’’ after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 

Æ 


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