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 sub-
sequently 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Revitalization 
Now Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN PRO-
GRAM. 
Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(r) RELOCATION AND RETENTION STUDENT LOAN 
REPAYMENT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) ENROLLED LOAN AMOUNT.—A bor-
rower may elect to enroll any combination of 
principal and accrued interest that has not been 
capitalized on eligible loans not in default as an 
enrolled loan balance under the program under 
this subsection in an amount that is equal to— 
‘‘(i) an amount agreed to by the bor-
rower, Secretary, and sponsoring entity (or 
a combination of such sponsoring entities); 
and 
‘‘(ii) except as provided in paragraph 
(3)(B)(ii), the lesser of the following: 
‘‘(I) $50,000. 
‘‘(II) The total amount of eligible 
loans of such borrower. 
‘‘(B) CANCELLATION OR REPAYMENT RE-
QUIRED.—The Secretary shall cancel or repay 
an amount determined under paragraph (2)(A) 
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of the balance due on any enrolled loan balance 
not in default for a borrower who— 
‘‘(i) has maintained residence in a 
qualifying area during a 12-month period 
and such borrower attests that such resi-
dence is a primary residence; and 
‘‘(ii) demonstrates to the Secretary in 
the agreement under paragraph (2)(A) 
that a sponsoring entity certified in accord-
ance with paragraph (3)(A) (or a combina-
tion of such sponsoring entities) will, ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), 
match the amounts cancelled or repaid by 
the Secretary as payments made by such 
sponsoring entity (or a combination of 
such sponsoring entities) towards the re-
payment of the enrolled loan balance. 
‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 
establish a user-friendly, simplified, and elec-
tronic process using the online portal required 
under paragraph (5)(B) through which a bor-
rower who makes an election to enroll eligible 
loans into an enrolled loan balance under sub-
paragraph (A) shall annually certify enrollment 
in the program under this subsection. 
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‘‘(D) NO PAYMENTS REQUIRED BY BOR-
ROWER.—A borrower may not be required to 
make payments with respect to the enrolled 
loan balance (or payments on the interest that 
accrues on the total amount of such enrolled 
loan balance) during any 12-month period in 
which the borrower is enrolled in the program 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(2) SCHEDULE.— 
‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Secretary shall enter into an 
agreement with a borrower and sponsoring enti-
ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti-
ties) to cancel or repay an amount with respect 
to each 12-month period described under para-
graph (1)(B)(i) such that over the period of 96 
months the total amount of cancellation under 
paragraph (1) is equal to an amount that, ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), is 
equal to the lesser of the following: 
‘‘(i) $25,000 toward the enrolled loan 
balance, plus the interest that accrues on 
the total amount of the enrolled loan bal-
ance under paragraph (1)(A). 
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‘‘(ii) Half of the total amount of the 
enrolled loan balance, plus the interest that 
accrues on the total amount of the enrolled 
loan balance under paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(B) INCREASED CANCELLATION AMOUNTS 
OVER TIME.—The Secretary shall establish a 
standardized cancellation or repayment schedule 
for purposes of the program under this sub-
section such that over the course of 8 cancella-
tions or repayments of the enrolled loan balance 
under paragraph (1), the total amount can-
celled or repaid with respect to each 12-month 
period increases. 
‘‘(C) NUMBER
OF
CANCELLATIONS.—A 
borrower— 
‘‘(i) may receive during a 12-month 
period for which the borrower is certified 
not more than one cancellation or repay-
ment under paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(ii) may not receive more than 8 
such cancellations or repayments. 
‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON PRESSURING BOR-
ROWERS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A private edu-
cation loan debt collector or creditor may 
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not pressure a borrower of a private loan 
to elect to apply any amount received pur-
suant to paragraph (1) to any private edu-
cation loan. 
‘‘(ii) VIOLATIONS.—A violation of this 
subparagraph is deemed— 
‘‘(I) an unfair, deceptive, or abu-
sive act or practice under Federal law 
in connection with any transaction 
with a consumer for a consumer fi-
nancial product or service under sec-
tion 1031 of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 
5531); and 
‘‘(II) with respect to a violation 
by a debt collector, an unfair or un-
conscionable means to collect or at-
tempt to collect any debt under sec-
tion 808 of the Federal Debt Collec-
tion Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 1692f). 
‘‘(iii) PRESSURE
DEFINED.—In this 
subparagraph, the term ‘pressure’ means 
any communication, recommendation, or 
other similar communication, other than 
providing basic information about a bor-
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regulation a process by which the remaining en-
rolled loan balance of such borrower is included 
in to the eligible loans from which such enrolled 
loan balance derived and may be enrolled in an 
appropriate loan forgiveness or repayment pro-
gram if the borrower would otherwise be eligible 
for such program. 
‘‘(3) SPONSORING ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Commerce and 
the Secretary of Labor, shall carry out a pro-
gram to certify States, counties, localities, terri-
tories, Tribes, nonprofit entities, and qualifying 
partnerships that are able to provide funding to 
borrowers for purposes of this subsection. Such 
program shall include standard requirements 
relating to the treatment of default by a spon-
soring entity and the ability of a sponsoring en-
tity to be certified or recertified after such a de-
fault. 
‘‘(B) MATCHING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), a sponsoring entity (or 
a combination of such sponsoring entities) 
shall match (except with respect to the in-
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terest that accrues on the total amount of 
the enrolled loan balance under paragraph 
(1)(A)) the amounts cancelled or repaid by 
the Secretary under paragraph (1) as pay-
ments made by such sponsoring entity to-
wards the repayment of the enrolled loan 
balance. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(I) EXTREME FINANCIAL HARD-
SHIP.—In the case of a sponsoring en-
tity (or a combination of such spon-
soring entities) with an extreme finan-
cial hardship that demonstrates such 
hardship to the Secretary, through a 
process determined by the Secretary, 
the sponsoring entity and the Sec-
retary may agree to match amounts 
such that the total amount repaid or 
cancelled under this subsection is less 
than the amount described in para-
graph (1)(A), so long as the total 
amount repaid with respect to each 
12-month period increases. 
‘‘(II) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.— 
A sponsoring entity (or a combination 
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of such sponsoring entities) may pro-
vide more than the match required 
under clause (i) if the Secretary deter-
mines that, over the course of pro-
viding 
more 
than 
the 
matching 
amount of the repayments or cancella-
tions under paragraph (1), the total 
amount repaid by such sponsoring en-
tity with respect to each 12-month pe-
riod increases. 
‘‘(iii) INTEREST.—The Secretary shall 
cancel or repay the interest that accrues on 
the total amount of the enrolled loan bal-
ance under paragraph (1)(A), regardless of 
whether an exception under clause (ii) ap-
plies with respect to such an enrolled loan 
balance. 
‘‘(C) DEFAULT.—In the case of a borrower 
for which a sponsoring entity (or a combination 
of such sponsoring entities) offers to provide 
loan cancellation or repayment under this sub-
section and subsequently defaults on such offer, 
such borrower may not be held responsible for 
repayment of the amount such sponsoring enti-
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ty (or a combination of such sponsoring enti-
ties) offered to provide such borrower. 
‘‘(D) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in this subsection shall preclude— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary from establishing a 
process to financially assist a sponsoring 
entity (or a combination of such spon-
soring entities) that defaults on loan can-
cellation or repayment (as described in 
subparagraph (C)) so long as such process 
does not hold a borrower responsible for 
any repayments with respect to such a de-
fault; or 
‘‘(ii) a sponsoring entity (or a com-
bination of such sponsoring entities) from 
establishing reciprocal agreements, part-
nering, collaborating, or otherwise coordi-
nating with other sponsoring entities to 
provide matching funds as required under 
subparagraph (B)(i) and avoid default. 
‘‘(E) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall 
issue guidance to assist sponsoring entities (or 
a combination of such sponsoring entities) with 
establishing preference and developing criteria 
to select borrowers for sponsorship under this 
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subsection and to select borrowers to receive ad-
ditional 
payments 
under 
subparagraph 
(B)(ii)(II). 
‘‘(4) TAX TREATMENT OF CANCELLED OR RE-
PAID AMOUNTS.—For purpose of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986, no amount shall be included in 
any person’s gross income by reason of the discharge 
under this subsection of any indebtedness. 
‘‘(5) DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(A) INFORMATION
FOR
BORROWERS.— 
The Secretary shall establish on the public 
website of the Department of Education, and 
periodically update— 
‘‘(i) a list of qualifying areas; 
‘‘(ii) a list of sponsoring entities cer-
tified under paragraph (3)(A) available 
with respect to such qualifying areas; and 
‘‘(iii) contact information for such 
sponsoring entities. 
‘‘(B) ONLINE
PORTAL.—The Secretary 
shall establish an online portal through the pub-
lic website of the Department of Education for 
borrowers to— 
‘‘(i) certify enrollment in the program 
under this section; 
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‘‘(ii) check the status of an enrollment 
certification under this section and the 
deadlines with respect to such certifi-
cations; 
‘‘(iii) check the enrollment status of 
such borrower with respect to the program 
under this section; and 
‘‘(iv) view the amount of assistance 
the borrower has received or will receive 
with respect to the enrolled loan balance of 
the borrower and the dates on which such 
amounts were received or will be received. 
‘‘(C) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall de-
velop and implement an outreach plan to no-
tify— 
‘‘(i) potential sponsoring entities of 
the certification process under paragraph 
(3)(A); 
‘‘(ii) sponsoring entities of recertifi-
cation requirements under this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(iii) borrowers (including prospective 
borrowers) of eligible loans of the program 
under this subsection, including the bene-
fits of such program and how to meet the 
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