Student Loan Relief Act of 2019

Student Loan Relief Act of 2019

This bill temporarily authorizes the Department of Education to reissue student loans disbursed within a certain timeframe so that borrowers may obtain reduced interest rates.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4749 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4749

To provide temporary authority to the Secretary of Education to reissue 
 certain student loans to reduce interest rates paid by borrowers, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 2019

   Mr. Clay introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide temporary authority to the Secretary of Education to reissue 
 certain student loans to reduce interest rates paid by borrowers, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Student Loan Relief Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO REDUCE STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES.

    Part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087a et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 459B the following 
new section:

``SEC. 459C. TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO REISSUE STUDENT LOANS TO REDUCE 
              INTEREST RATES.

    ``(a) Temporary Authority To Reissue Student Loans To Reduce 
Interest Rates.--Notwithstanding section 455(b)(9)(C) or any other 
provision of this Act, for the 10-year period beginning on the date of 
enactment of the Student Loan Relief Act of 2019, the Secretary is 
authorized to reissue a loan which was made under this part on or after 
the date that was 20 years before the date of enactment of the Student 
Loan Relief Act of 2019, and before the date that is 10 years after 
such date of enactment, in order to permit the borrower to obtain a 
reduced interest rate in accordance with this section.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall reissue a loan under 
        this section for a borrower who--
                    ``(A) has an outstanding balance on one or more 
                loans made under this part; and
                    ``(B) submits to the Secretary, at such time and in 
                such manner as the Secretary may require, a completed 
                application for the loan to be reissued with an 
                interest rate reduction in accordance with this 
                section.
            ``(2) Limitation.--If a borrower has been convicted of, or 
        has pled nolo contendere or guilty to, a crime involving fraud 
        in obtaining funds under this title, the borrower shall not be 
        eligible to have a loan reissued under this section unless the 
        borrower has completed the repayment of such funds to the 
        Secretary, or to the holder in the case of a loan under this 
        title obtained by fraud.
    ``(c) Reduced Interest Rate.--For each loan reissued by the 
Secretary under this section on or after the date of enactment of the 
Student Loan Relief Act of 2019, and before the date that is 10 years 
after such date of enactment, the applicable rate of interest shall, 
for loans reissued during any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and 
ending on June 30, be determined on the preceding June 1 and be a rate 
equal to the high yield of the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the 
final auction held prior to such June 1.
    ``(d) Terms of Reissuance.--A loan reissued by the Secretary under 
this section shall--
            ``(1) have the same terms (other than applicable rate of 
        interest) as the terms of the loan before reissuance, including 
        the terms related to eligibility for consolidation of such loan 
        in accordance with this title;
            ``(2) have an applicable reduced rate of interest on the 
        loan calculated in accordance with subsection (c), and such 
        rate shall be fixed for the remaining period of the loan;
            ``(3) not require the execution of a new promissory note 
        and shall not result in the extension of the duration of the 
        note; and
            ``(4) not be reissued more than one time under this 
        section.
    ``(e) Duties of the Secretary.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of enactment of the Student Loan Relief Act of 2019, the Secretary 
shall take such steps as may be necessary to--
            ``(1) notify borrowers of the availability of the program 
        authorized under this section, and the termination date for 
        such program; and
            ``(2) allow borrowers to easily determine whether 
        reissuance of a loan under this section will reduce the 
        interest rates and overall costs of the outstanding loans of 
        the borrower, before the borrower applies for such 
        reissuance.''.
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