Title: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Protection Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Protection Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Education (ED) to waive monthly payments under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program during a qualifying emergency (e.g., a public health emergency).
Specifically, ED may waive the requirement that a borrower make a monthly payment under the PSLF program during a month in which there is a qualifying emergency in the borrower's state of employment.
The bill specifies that a borrower will not be disqualified from receiving loan cancellation under the PSLF program due to failure to make a payment during a qualifying emergency.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3543 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3543

 To amend the public service loan forgiveness program under the Higher 
 Education Act of 1965 to waive the requirement that a borrower make a 
    monthly payment during a month for which there is a qualifying 
       emergency in the State in which the borrower is employed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2020

  Mr. Tester introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the public service loan forgiveness program under the Higher 
 Education Act of 1965 to waive the requirement that a borrower make a 
    monthly payment during a month for which there is a qualifying 
       emergency in the State in which the borrower is employed.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Service Loan Forgiveness 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PAYMENTS DURING 
              QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.

    Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(m)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided under paragraph (5), the 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Waiver for payments during qualifying emergency.--
                    ``(A) Qualifying emergency.--The term `qualifying 
                emergency' means--
                            ``(i) a public health emergency declared by 
                        the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                        pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 
                        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d);
                            ``(ii) an emergency for which a Governor of 
                        a State or territory has declared a state of 
                        emergency;
                            ``(iii) an event for which the President 
                        declared a major disaster or an emergency under 
                        section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert 
                        T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or
                            ``(iv) a national emergency declared by the 
                        President under section 201 of the National 
                        Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621).
                    ``(B) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                requirement under paragraph (1) that a borrower make a 
                monthly payment during a month for which there is a 
                qualifying emergency in the State in which the borrower 
                is employed. A failure to make a monthly payment 
                pursuant to such waiver shall not disqualify such 
                borrower from receiving loan cancellation pursuant to 
                this subsection.''.
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