Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act
Latest action · May 5, 2020 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.
- IntroducedMay 5, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act
This bill establishes temporary programs to provide federal and private student loan forgiveness to certain frontline health care workers. Frontline health care workers are those individuals who have made significant contributions to the medical response (e.g., patient care, medical research, or testing) to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) national emergency.
Specifically, the Department of Education (ED) must carry out a program to forgive the outstanding balance of principal and interest due on federal student loans for borrowers who are frontline health care workers.
Additionally, the Department of the Treasury must carry out a program to repay in full the outstanding balance of principal and interest due on certain private student loans for borrowers who are frontline health care workers.
ED and Treasury must coordinate to ensure that eligibility determinations are consistent across both programs and that frontline health care workers who are eligible for both programs may apply for loan forgiveness with a single application. Further, such programs must be available to frontline health care workers who were borrowers of eligible loans and who died as a result of COVID-19.
The bill specifies the notification requirements related to the availability of these programs.
ED, Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services must jointly establish an intergovernmental working group to assist with the administration of these programs, including the development of the application process.
The bill also excludes discharged student loan debt under these programs from an individual's gross income.
Cosponsors 40
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 5, 2020 to Nov 16, 2020; 8 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-MN | Ilhan Omar | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-IL | Jesús G. "Chuy" García | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-TX | Marc A. Veasey | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | May 5, 2020 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | May 8, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Thomas R. Suozzi | May 8, 2020 | |
| D-MA | William R. Keating | May 8, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | May 8, 2020 | |
| D-AZ | Ann Kirkpatrick | May 15, 2020 | |
| D-MD | C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger | May 15, 2020 | |
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | May 15, 2020 | |
| D-AZ | Tom O'Halleran | May 15, 2020 | |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | May 15, 2020 | |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | May 22, 2020 | |
| D-TX | Eddie Bernice Johnson | May 22, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | May 22, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-NJ | Jefferson Van Drew | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-AL | Terri A. Sewell | Jun 25, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Jul 16, 2020 | |
| D-OH | Joyce Beatty | Jul 16, 2020 | |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Jul 16, 2020 | |
| D-FL | Al Lawson, Jr. | Jul 29, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | Jul 29, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Joseph D. Morelle | Jul 29, 2020 | |
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Oct 20, 2020 | |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | Oct 23, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Oct 23, 2020 | |
| D-MA | Stephen F. Lynch | Oct 23, 2020 | |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne, Jr. | Oct 27, 2020 | |
| D-MI | Daniel T. Kildee | Oct 30, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Nov 16, 2020 |
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 May 5, 2020 |
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred May 5, 2020 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred May 5, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 5, 2020Introduced in House
- May 5, 2020Referred 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
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 84, May 5, 2020, page H1979.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R47505 | Student Loan Cancellation Under the HEROES Act | Report | Apr 14, 2023 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2418 | Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act | Reintroduced Bill | Apr 8, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on the front line in response to COVID-19.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
- Administrative remedies
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Department of Education
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of the Treasury
- Education
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Health personnel
- Higher education
- Income tax exclusion
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Interest, dividends, interest rates
- Student aid and college costs
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 5, 2020Introduced in House
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.
