I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8835 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a relocation 

and retention student loan repayment program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself and Mr. DELGADO) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, 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 amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

for a relocation and retention student loan repayment 

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 ‘‘Rural Revitalization 

5 Now Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(r) RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN

7 REPAYMENT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ENROLLED LOAN AMOUNT.—A bor10 rower may elect to enroll any combination of 

11 principal and accrued interest that has not been 

12 capitalized on eligible loans not in default as an 

13 enrolled loan balance under the program under 

14 this subsection in an amount that is equal to— 

15 ‘‘(i) an amount agreed to by the bor16 rower, Secretary, and sponsoring entity (or 

17 a combination of such sponsoring entities); 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in paragraph 

20 (3)(B)(ii), the lesser of the following: 

21 ‘‘(I) $50,000. 

22 ‘‘(II) The total amount of eligible 

23 loans of such borrower. 

24 ‘‘(B) CANCELLATION OR REPAYMENT RE25 QUIRED.—The Secretary shall cancel or repay 

26 an amount determined under paragraph (2)(A) 


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1 of the balance due on any enrolled loan balance 

2 not in default for a borrower who— 

3 ‘‘(i) has maintained residence in a 

4 qualifying area during a 12-month period 

5 and such borrower attests that such resi6 dence is a primary residence; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates to the Secretary in 

8 the agreement under paragraph (2)(A) 

9 that a sponsoring entity certified in accord10 ance with paragraph (3)(A) (or a combina11 tion of such sponsoring entities) will, ex12 cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), 

13 match the amounts cancelled or repaid by 

14 the Secretary as payments made by such 

15 sponsoring entity (or a combination of 

16 such sponsoring entities) towards the re17 payment of the enrolled loan balance. 

18 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

19 establish a user-friendly, simplified, and elec20 tronic process using the online portal required 

21 under paragraph (5)(B) through which a bor22 rower who makes an election to enroll eligible 

23 loans into an enrolled loan balance under sub24 paragraph (A) shall annually certify enrollment 

25 in the program under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(D) NO PAYMENTS REQUIRED BY BOR2 ROWER.—A borrower may not be required to 

3 make payments with respect to the enrolled 

4 loan balance (or payments on the interest that 

5 accrues on the total amount of such enrolled 

6 loan balance) during any 12-month period in 

7 which the borrower is enrolled in the program 

8 under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.—Subject to subpara11 graph (B), the Secretary shall enter into an 

12 agreement with a borrower and sponsoring enti13 ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti14 ties) to cancel or repay an amount with respect 

15 to each 12-month period described under para16 graph (1)(B)(i) such that over the period of 96 

17 months the total amount of cancellation under 

18 paragraph (1) is equal to an amount that, ex19 cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), is 

20 equal to the lesser of the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) $25,000 toward the enrolled loan 

22 balance, plus the interest that accrues on 

23 the total amount of the enrolled loan bal24 ance under paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Half of the total amount of the 

2 enrolled loan balance, plus the interest that 

3 accrues on the total amount of the enrolled 

4 loan balance under paragraph (1)(A). 

5 ‘‘(B) INCREASED CANCELLATION AMOUNTS

6 OVER TIME.—The Secretary shall establish a 

7 standardized cancellation or repayment schedule 

8 for purposes of the program under this sub9 section such that over the course of 8 cancella10 tions or repayments of the enrolled loan balance 

11 under paragraph (1), the total amount can12 celled or repaid with respect to each 12-month 

13 period increases. 

14 ‘‘(C) NUMBER OF CANCELLATIONS.—A 

15 borrower— 

16 ‘‘(i) may receive during a 12-month 

17 period for which the borrower is certified 

18 not more than one cancellation or repay19 ment under paragraph (1); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) may not receive more than 8 

21 such cancellations or repayments. 

22 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON PRESSURING BOR23 ROWERS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A private edu25 cation loan debt collector or creditor may 


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1 not pressure a borrower of a private loan 

2 to elect to apply any amount received pur3 suant to paragraph (1) to any private edu4 cation loan. 

5 ‘‘(ii) VIOLATIONS.—A violation of this 

6 subparagraph is deemed— 

7 ‘‘(I) an unfair, deceptive, or abu8 sive act or practice under Federal law 

9 in connection with any transaction 

10 with a consumer for a consumer fi11 nancial product or service under sec12 tion 1031 of the Consumer Financial 

13 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

14 5531); and 

15 ‘‘(II) with respect to a violation 

16 by a debt collector, an unfair or un17 conscionable means to collect or at18 tempt to collect any debt under sec19 tion 808 of the Federal Debt Collec20 tion Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f). 

21 ‘‘(iii) PRESSURE DEFINED.—In this 

22 subparagraph, the term ‘pressure’ means 

23 any communication, recommendation, or 

24 other similar communication, other than 

25 providing basic information about a borVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:34 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8835.IH H8835

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1 rower’s options, urging a borrower to make 

2 an election described in clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(E) UNENROLLMENT.—A borrower who 

4 no longer resides in a qualifying area after re5 ceiving a cancellation or repayment under this 

6 subsection shall be unenrolled from the program 

7 under this subsection and the remaining en8 rolled loan balance of such borrower shall be in9 cluded in the eligible loans from which such en10 rolled loan balance derived. Such unenrollment 

11 shall not preclude a borrower from enrolling the 

12 eligible loans of the borrower into an appro13 priate loan forgiveness or repayment program, 

14 including such a program in which the borrower 

15 is, at the time of such unenrollment, already en16 rolled or participating in. 

17 ‘‘(F) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

18 issue such regulations as are necessary to allow 

19 borrowers to concurrently enroll in the program 

20 under this subsection with respect to an en21 rolled loan balance and a loan forgiveness or re22 payment program with respect to the other eli23 gible loans of the borrower not so enrolled. In 

24 the case of a borrower described in subpara25 graph (E), the Secretary shall establish through 


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1 regulation a process by which the remaining en2 rolled loan balance of such borrower is included 

3 in to the eligible loans from which such enrolled 

4 loan balance derived and may be enrolled in an 

5 appropriate loan forgiveness or repayment pro6 gram if the borrower would otherwise be eligible 

7 for such program. 

8 ‘‘(3) SPONSORING ENTITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con10 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce and 

11 the Secretary of Labor, shall carry out a pro12 gram to certify States, counties, localities, terri13 tories, Tribes, nonprofit entities, and qualifying 

14 partnerships that are able to provide funding to 

15 borrowers for purposes of this subsection. Such 

16 program shall include standard requirements 

17 relating to the treatment of default by a spon18 soring entity and the ability of a sponsoring en19 tity to be certified or recertified after such a de20 fault. 

21 ‘‘(B) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro23 vided in clause (ii), a sponsoring entity (or 

24 a combination of such sponsoring entities) 

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1 terest that accrues on the total amount of 

2 the enrolled loan balance under paragraph 

3 (1)(A)) the amounts cancelled or repaid by 

4 the Secretary under paragraph (1) as pay5 ments made by such sponsoring entity to6 wards the repayment of the enrolled loan 

7 balance. 

8 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(I) EXTREME FINANCIAL HARD10 SHIP.—In the case of a sponsoring en11 tity (or a combination of such spon12 soring entities) with an extreme finan13 cial hardship that demonstrates such 

14 hardship to the Secretary, through a 

15 process determined by the Secretary, 

16 the sponsoring entity and the Sec17 retary may agree to match amounts 

18 such that the total amount repaid or 

19 cancelled under this subsection is less 

20 than the amount described in para21 graph (1)(A), so long as the total 

22 amount repaid with respect to each 

23 12-month period increases. 

24 ‘‘(II) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.— 

25 A sponsoring entity (or a combination 


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1 of such sponsoring entities) may pro2 vide more than the match required 

3 under clause (i) if the Secretary deter4 mines that, over the course of pro5 viding more than the matching 

6 amount of the repayments or cancella7 tions under paragraph (1), the total 

8 amount repaid by such sponsoring en9 tity with respect to each 12-month pe10 riod increases. 

11 ‘‘(iii) INTEREST.—The Secretary shall 

12 cancel or repay the interest that accrues on 

13 the total amount of the enrolled loan bal14 ance under paragraph (1)(A), regardless of 

15 whether an exception under clause (ii) ap16 plies with respect to such an enrolled loan 

17 balance. 

18 ‘‘(C) DEFAULT.—In the case of a borrower 

19 for which a sponsoring entity (or a combination 

20 of such sponsoring entities) offers to provide 

21 loan cancellation or repayment under this sub22 section and subsequently defaults on such offer, 

23 such borrower may not be held responsible for 

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1 ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti2 ties) offered to provide such borrower. 

3 ‘‘(D) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

4 in this subsection shall preclude— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Secretary from establishing a 

6 process to financially assist a sponsoring 

7 entity (or a combination of such spon8 soring entities) that defaults on loan can9 cellation or repayment (as described in 

10 subparagraph (C)) so long as such process 

11 does not hold a borrower responsible for 

12 any repayments with respect to such a de13 fault; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) a sponsoring entity (or a com15 bination of such sponsoring entities) from 

16 establishing reciprocal agreements, part17 nering, collaborating, or otherwise coordi18 nating with other sponsoring entities to 

19 provide matching funds as required under 

20 subparagraph (B)(i) and avoid default. 

21 ‘‘(E) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall 

22 issue guidance to assist sponsoring entities (or 

23 a combination of such sponsoring entities) with 

24 establishing preference and developing criteria 

25 to select borrowers for sponsorship under this 


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1 subsection and to select borrowers to receive ad2 ditional payments under subparagraph 

3 (B)(ii)(II). 

4 ‘‘(4) TAX TREATMENT OF CANCELLED OR RE5 PAID AMOUNTS.—For purpose of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986, no amount shall be included in 

7 any person’s gross income by reason of the discharge 

8 under this subsection of any indebtedness. 

9 ‘‘(5) DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION FOR BORROWERS.— 

11 The Secretary shall establish on the public 

12 website of the Department of Education, and 

13 periodically update— 

14 ‘‘(i) a list of qualifying areas; 

15 ‘‘(ii) a list of sponsoring entities cer16 tified under paragraph (3)(A) available 

17 with respect to such qualifying areas; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) contact information for such 

19 sponsoring entities. 

20 ‘‘(B) ONLINE PORTAL.—The Secretary 

21 shall establish an online portal through the pub22 lic website of the Department of Education for 

23 borrowers to— 

24 ‘‘(i) certify enrollment in the program 

25 under this section; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) check the status of an enrollment 

2 certification under this section and the 

3 deadlines with respect to such certifi4 cations; 

5 ‘‘(iii) check the enrollment status of 

6 such borrower with respect to the program 

7 under this section; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) view the amount of assistance 

9 the borrower has received or will receive 

10 with respect to the enrolled loan balance of 

11 the borrower and the dates on which such 

12 amounts were received or will be received. 

13 ‘‘(C) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall de14 velop and implement an outreach plan to no15 tify— 

16 ‘‘(i) potential sponsoring entities of 

17 the certification process under paragraph 

18 (3)(A); 

19 ‘‘(ii) sponsoring entities of recertifi20 cation requirements under this subsection; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) borrowers (including prospective 

23 borrowers) of eligible loans of the program 

24 under this subsection, including the bene25 fits of such program and how to meet the 


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1 requirements to participate in such pro2 gram. 

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

4 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE LOAN.—The term ‘eligible 

5 loan’ means a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, 

6 Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal Direct 

7 Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct 

8 Consolidation Loan, Federal Family Education 

9 Loan, Federal Perkins Loan, or a private edu10 cation loan. 

11 ‘‘(B) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.—The 

12 term ‘private education loan’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 140 of the Truth in 

14 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650). 

15 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING AREA.—The term ‘quali16 fying area’ means— 

17 ‘‘(i) any city or town which has a pop18 ulation of less than 20,000 inhabitants 

19 other than a city or town in a densely set20 tled area or adjacent to, or closely associ21 ated with, one or more cities or towns 

22 which, considered collectively, do not meet 

23 the criteria of this subparagraph; 

24 ‘‘(ii) any city or town which has a 

25 population of greater than or equal to 


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1 20,000 inhabitants and less than 100,000 

2 inhabitants that with respect to which, 

3 during the most recent 10-year period, the 

4 net population loss from the area equals or 

5 exceeds 0 percent of the population of the 

6 area other than a city or town in a densely 

7 settled area or adjacent to, or closely asso8 ciated with, one or more cities or towns 

9 which, considered collectively, do not meet 

10 the criteria of this subparagraph; 

11 ‘‘(iii) any city or town which has a 

12 population of greater than or equal to 

13 100,000 inhabitants and less than 150,000 

14 inhabitants that— 

15 ‘‘(I) with respect to which, dur16 ing the most recent 10-year period, 

17 the net population loss from the area 

18 equals or exceeds 0 percent of the 

19 population of the area; 

20 ‘‘(II) the Secretary of Education, 

21 in consultation with the Secretary of 

22 Commerce, determines would economi23 cally benefit from serving as a quali24 fying geographic area; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) is not in a densely settled 

2 area or adjacent to, or closely associ3 ated with, one or more cities or towns 

4 which, considered collectively, do not 

5 meet the criteria of this subpara6 graph; or 

7 ‘‘(iv) any city or town not described in 

8 clauses (i) through (iii) which has a popu9 lation of less than 300,000 inhabitants— 

10 ‘‘(I) that is included in a major 

11 disaster declared by the President 

12 under section 401 of the Robert T. 

13 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer14 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 5170) (not including the major dis16 aster declared by reason of the novel 

17 coronavirus (COVID–19)) during the 

18 five-year period preceding the date on 

19 which a borrower is enrolled in the 

20 program under this subsection; 

21 ‘‘(II) that— 

22 ‘‘(aa) the Secretary of Edu23 cation, in consultation with the 

24 Secretary of Commerce, deter25 mines would economically benefit 


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1 from serving as a qualifying geo2 graphic area; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) the Secretary of Edu4 cation, in consultation with the 

5 Secretary of Commerce and the 

6 Secretary of Housing and Urban 

7 Development, determines would 

8 support community recovery by 

9 serving as a qualifying geo10 graphic area; and 

11 ‘‘(III) is not adjacent to, or close12 ly associated with, one or more cities 

13 or towns which, considered collec14 tively, do not meet the criteria of this 

15 subparagraph. 

16 ‘‘(D) FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES

17 ACT TERMS.—The terms ‘creditor’ and ‘debt 

18 collector’ have the meaning given those terms, 

19 respectively, under section 803 of the Fair Debt 

20 Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a).’’. 

Æ 


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