HR 3257 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Student Loan Fairness Act

Introduced Jun 13, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Karen Bass D-CA

Latest action · Jun 13, 2019 Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJun 13, 2019
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Student Loan Fairness Act

This bill addresses repayment plans, forgiveness, and applicable interest rates for student loans.

Among other things, the bill

establishes an income-based 10/10 Loan Repayment Plan and specifies the calculation of monthly loan payments under the plan for borrowers of Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) and Direct Loans;
establishes a 10/10 Loan Forgiveness Program that provides FFEL and Direct Loan forgiveness to borrowers who, over 10 years, have made 120 monthly payments under the 10/10 Loan Repayment Plan or under another repayment plan that required them to make payments at least as large as those they would have made under the 10/10 Loan Repayment Plan;
caps the interest rate on new Direct Loans at 3.4%;
revises the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to forgive the Direct Loans of participants who have made 60 (rather than 120) monthly payments on such loans pursuant to specified repayment plans;
includes primary care physicians in medically underserved areas in the PSLF program;
allows certain borrowers to consolidate their private education loans as Direct Consolidation Loans;
directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue regulations that require private education lenders to sell private education loans to the Department of Education (ED) for consolidation as Direct Consolidation Loans; and
requires ED to pay the interest that accrues on certain student loans due to the borrower's lack of full-time employment for an interest-free deferment period of up to three years.

Cosponsors 20

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jun 13, 2019.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-NC	Alma S. Adams	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-CA	Barbara Lee	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-MS	Bennie G. Thompson	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-MI	Brenda L. Lawrence	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-LA	Cedric L. Richmond	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne, Jr.	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-MO	Emanuel Cleaver	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-NC	G. K. Butterfield	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-CT	Jahana Hayes	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-SC	James E. Clyburn	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-OH	Marcia L. Fudge	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-IL	Robin L. Kelly	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-GA	Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-VI	Stacey E. Plaskett	Original	Jun 13, 2019
D-MO	Wm. Lacy Clay	Original	Jun 13, 2019

Committees 3

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Education and Workforce Committee	Referred Jun 13, 2019
House	Financial Services Committee	Referred Jun 13, 2019
House	Ways and Means Committee	Referred Jun 13, 2019

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jun 13, 2019Introduced in House
Jun 13, 2019Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: This resolution is enacted pursuant to the power granted in Congress under Article I, Section 1.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 99, June 13, 2019, page H4696.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 1127	Student Loan Fairness Act	Reintroduction of	Feb 16, 2017

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To increase purchasing power, strengthen economic recovery, and restore fairness in financing higher education in the United States through student loan forgiveness, caps on interest rates on Federal student loans, and refinancing opportunities for private borrowers, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Student Loan Fairness Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Jun 13, 2019Introduced in House

Support LegiList

This page is free, carries no paywall, and is built and maintained by one person. If the record here is useful to you, a few dollars keeps it going.

$1 $5 $10

Processed by Stripe in a separate window. LegiList never sees card details.

Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.