I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1392 

To establish a National TechCorps program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Mr. BERA (for himself, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SOTO, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. 

MCNERNEY, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. HIMES, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and 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 establish a National TechCorps program, 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 the ‘‘TechCorps Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. OPM DATABASE OF TECHCORPS-ELIGIBLE POSI6 TIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 


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1 of Personnel Management shall establish and maintain an 

2 electronic database of job vacancies across the Govern3 ment relating to information technology. The Director 

4 shall consult with each Federal agency in establishing and 

5 periodically updating the database. 

6 (b) PUBLICATION.—The database of vacant positions 

7 described under subsection (a) shall be published and 

8 available on the USA Jobs Internet Web site, and each 

9 position in the database shall be described on such Web 

10 site as a ‘‘TechCorps-eligible position’’. 

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHCORPS. 

12 Section 122(a) of the National and Community Serv13 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)) is amended by add14 ing at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(6) TECHCORPS.—The Corporation shall enter 

16 into an interagency agreement (other than a grant 

17 agreement) with another Federal agency under sec18 tion 121(b) to carry out a TechCorps program under 

19 which— 

20 ‘‘(A) individuals apply to service as a 

21 TechCorps member— 

22 ‘‘(i) prior to graduating from a pro23 gram of study at institution of education 

24 leading to degree or certificate relating to 

25 information technology, but not earlier 


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1 than the last academic year of such pro2 gram of study; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) after graduating from such a 

4 program of study; 

5 ‘‘(B) individuals described in subparagraph 

6 (A)(i) are recruited not earlier than the last 

7 academic year of their program of study; 

8 ‘‘(C) individuals described in subparagraph 

9 (A) desiring to serve as TechCorps members 

10 shall commit to employment with the Federal 

11 agency in a job relating to information tech12 nology for not less than a 2-year period; and 

13 ‘‘(D) upon receiving and accepting such 

14 employment, such an individual shall be a 

15 TechCorps member, which membership may not 

16 exceed a 4-year period.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. LOAN DEFERMENT AND LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

18 (a) LOAN DEFERMENT.—Section 455(f)(2) of the 

19 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

22 the end; 

23 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

24 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(E) during which the borrower is serving 

2 as a TechCorps member under section 

3 122(a)(6) of the National and Community Serv4 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(6)).’’. 

5 (b) LOAN FORGIVENESS.—Part D of title IV of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 460A. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TECHCORPS MEM9 BERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

11 carry out a program of canceling the obligation to repay 

12 a qualified loan amount in accordance with subsection (b) 

13 for loans made under this part to any borrower who— 

14 ‘‘(1) has served as a TechCorps member under 

15 section 122(a)(6) of the National and Community 

16 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(6)) for not 

17 less than a 2-year period; and 

18 ‘‘(2) is not in default on any loans for which 

19 the borrower seeks forgiveness. 

20 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) TWO YEARS OF SERVICE.—The Secretary 

22 shall cancel an amount equal to 50 percent of the 

23 loan obligation on any loans made under this part 

24 to a borrower described in subsection (a) that are 


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1 outstanding after the borrower’s completion of 2 

2 years of service as a TechCorps member. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL YEARS OF SERVICE.—Subject 

4 to paragraph (3), with respect to a borrower who re5 ceives the loan cancellation under paragraph (1) 

6 after the completion of the 2 years of service re7 quired under such paragraph, and— 

8 ‘‘(A) who serves for an additional year as 

9 a TechCorps member upon completion of such 

10 2 years of service, the Secretary shall cancel an 

11 amount equal to 50 percent of the loan obliga12 tion on any loans made under this part to the 

13 borrower that are outstanding after the bor14 rower’s completion of such additional year of 

15 service; and 

16 ‘‘(B) who serves for a second additional 

17 year as a TechCorps member upon completion 

18 of the additional year of service described in 

19 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall cancel 

20 the loan obligation on any loans made under 

21 this part to the borrower that are outstanding 

22 after the borrower’s completion of such second 

23 additional year of service. 

24 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The aggregate loan 

25 obligation of a borrower that may be cancelled under 


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1 this section may not exceed the amount equal to the 

2 maximum aggregate amount of Federal Direct Staf3 ford Loans and Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf4 ford Loans that may be awarded to a dependent stu5 dent under this part. 

6 ‘‘(c) TAX TREATMENT.—The amount of a loan, and 

7 interest on a loan, which is canceled under this section 

8 shall not be considered income for purposes of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986. 

10 ‘‘(d) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor11 rower may, for the same voluntary service, receive a ben12 efit under both this section and— 

13 ‘‘(1) section 428K; 

14 ‘‘(2) section 455(m); or 

15 ‘‘(3) subtitle D of title I of the National and 

16 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 

17 et seq.).’’. 

18 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY ON IT STAFFING NEEDS OF THE FED19 ERAL GOVERNMENT. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

22 shall— 

23 (1) study the projected staffing needs for jobs 

24 related to information technology in the Federal 

25 Government during the 10-year period beginning on 


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1 the date of enactment of this Act, including the 

2 number of such jobs that will become available or 

3 will be created during such period; and 

4 (2) submit to Congress the results of such 

5 study. 

Æ 


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