Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act
Latest action · Apr 8, 2021 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.
- IntroducedApr 8, 2021
- 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 33
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 8, 2021 to Sep 6, 2022; 23 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-FL | Al Lawson, Jr. | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-NJ | Albio Sires | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-MO | Cori Bush | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-MI | Daniel T. Kildee | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-IL | Jesús G. "Chuy" García | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-OH | Joyce Beatty | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-MA | Stephen F. Lynch | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-NY | Thomas R. Suozzi | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-AZ | Tom O'Halleran | Original | Apr 8, 2021 |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | May 17, 2021 | |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | May 18, 2021 | |
| D-GA | Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. | May 28, 2021 | |
| D-MD | Kweisi Mfume | Jul 29, 2021 | |
| D-NJ | Jefferson Van Drew | Aug 31, 2021 | |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Jan 10, 2022 | |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Feb 1, 2022 | |
| D-NH | Ann M. Kuster | May 16, 2022 | |
| D-NM | Melanie A. Stansbury | May 24, 2022 | |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Sep 6, 2022 |
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 Apr 8, 2021 |
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred Apr 8, 2021 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Apr 8, 2021 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 8, 2021Introduced in House
- Apr 8, 2021Referred 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. 167, no. 61, April 8, 2021, page H1721.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 117-503 | THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND BEYOND: IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES IN OUR COMMUNITIES66 pages | Finance Committee | May 12, 2021 |
| S. Hrg. 117-183 | EXAMINING OUR COVID 19 RESPONSE: USING LESSONS LEARNED TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS100 pages | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Apr 28, 2021 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 3828 | Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act | Identical bill | Mar 14, 2022 |
| HR 6720 | Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act | Reintroduction of | May 5, 2020 |
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.
- Apr 8, 2021Introduced 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.
