119-HR4893

Bill is currently in: House
Path to Law
House Senate President

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 4893

1. Short title
2. Special rule for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces performing certain duty

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "National Guard and Reserve Student Loan Fairness Act".

2. Special rule for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces performing certain duty

Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(5) Special rule for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces performing certain duty -

(A) Calculation of qualifying payments based on years of service creditable toward retired pay - With respect to a borrower who is a member of a reserve component of an Armed Force, the Secretary shall—

(i) - in the case of a member who completed a full year of covered service, deem each month in such year to be a month for which a qualifying payment was made under paragraph (1) if—

(I) - for each such month the borrower made a corresponding monthly payment on an eligible Federal Direct Loan; and

(II) - such corresponding monthly payment—

(aa) - met the requirements of paragraph (1); or

(bb) - in the case of a borrower not employed full-time in a public service job at the time the payment was made, such payment would have met the requirements of paragraph (1) had the borrower been employed full-time in a public service job at the time of such payment.

(ii) - in the case of a member who completed a partial year of covered service, deem up to six months in such year to be a month for which a qualifying payment was made if—

(I) - for each such month the borrower made a corresponding monthly payment on an eligible Federal Direct Loan; and

(II) - such corresponding monthly payment—

(aa) - met the requirements of paragraph (1); or

(bb) - in the case of a borrower not employed full-time in a public service job at the time the payment was made, such payment would have met the requirements of paragraph (1) had the borrower been employed full-time in a public service job at the time of such payment.

(B) Data matching required - Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, and on an annual basis thereafter, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Education shall jointly complete a data matching process—

(i) - to identify each individual who, while serving member of a reserve component of an Armed Force, made one or more student loan payments eligible to be counted under this paragraph; and

(ii) - without requiring further information or action from such individual—

(I) - to certify the total number of full or partial years of covered service of such individual; and

(II) - to count the total number of qualifying payments made by the individual during such years.

(C) Definitions - In this paragraph:

(i) - The term full year of covered service means any year for which a member of a reserve component of an Armed Force was credited at least 80 points toward eligibility for retired pay under section 12732(a)(2) of title 10, United States Code.

(ii) - The term partial year of covered service means any year for which a member of a reserve component of an Armed Force was credited at least 50 but less than 80 points toward eligibility for retired pay under section 12732(a)(2) of title 10, United States Code.

(iii) - The term Armed Force has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 10, United States Code.