Title: PSLF Technical Corrections Act of 2019
Policy area: Education

Summary:
PSLF Technical Corrections Act of 2019
This bill revises the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program under the Federal Direct Loan program.
Under current law, the PSLF program forgives the balance of a borrower's student debt after the borrower makes 120 qualifying loan payments under specified repayment plans while employed in a public service job. The bill expands the program to include payments under graduated or extended plans as payments that qualify a borrower for loan forgiveness under the PSLF program.
The bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to provide each borrower who has submitted a certification of employment under the PSLF program with a notification related to changes made to the program and a calculation of the borrower's monthly payments that count toward loan forgiveness.
It also requires ED to establish a dispute resolution process.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1175 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1175

        To improve the public service loan forgiveness program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2019

  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 improve the public service loan forgiveness program.

    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 ``PSLF Technical Corrections Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(m)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (4) as 
        paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``paragraph 
                (3)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by inserting ``or'' 
                        after the semicolon;
                            (ii) by striking clause (iii); and
                            (iii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 
                        clause (iii);
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Payments in graduated or extended plans.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In addition to canceling the 
                balance of interest and principal due for a borrower 
                described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall also 
                cancel the balance of interest and principal due, in 
                accordance with paragraph (3), on any eligible Federal 
                Direct Loan not in default for a borrower who--
                            ``(i) has made 120 qualifying monthly 
                        payments, as defined in subparagraph (B), on 
                        the eligible Federal Direct Loan after October 
                        1, 2007;
                            ``(ii) is employed in a public service job 
                        at the time of such forgiveness; and
                            ``(iii) has been employed in a public 
                        service job during the period in which the 
                        borrower makes each of the 120 payments 
                        described in clause (i).
                    ``(B) Qualifying monthly payment.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `qualifying monthly payment' means 
                any payment made under any repayment plan that is not 
                described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph 
                (1)(A) that satisfied the monthly amount the borrower 
                was required to pay at the time the monthly amount due 
                was billed to the borrower.'';
            (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by 
        inserting ``or paragraph (2), as the case may be'' after 
        ``paragraph (1)''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Dispute resolution process.--Not later than July 1, 
        2019, the Secretary shall establish a process for borrowers to 
        dispute the calculation of the number of monthly payments under 
        paragraph (1) or (2) that count toward loan forgiveness under 
        this subsection following the borrower's submission of a 
        certification of employment or application for forgiveness (or 
        any successor certification or application) under this 
        subsection.
            ``(7) Recalculating the number of qualifying payment 
        obligations for current public service loan forgiveness program 
        participants.--Not later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary 
        shall, for each borrower that has submitted a certification of 
        employment under this subsection before July 1, 2019--
                    ``(A) calculate the number of monthly payments 
                under paragraph (1) or (2) that count toward loan 
                forgiveness under this subsection, using the criteria 
                under this subsection as in effect on July 1, 2019; and
                    ``(B) inform the borrower of the changes to the 
                public service loan forgiveness program under this 
                subsection that take effect on or before July 1, 2019, 
                and the number of monthly payments calculated for the 
                borrower in accordance with subparagraph (A).''.
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