[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5270 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5270

   To make careers in public service more feasible for students who 
               graduate with high educational loan debt.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 7, 2004

  Mr. Renzi introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To make careers in public service more feasible for students who 
               graduate with high educational loan debt.

    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 ``Education for Public Service Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Nation benefits greatly from the contributions of 
        persons who obtain higher education, including graduate and 
        professional degrees, and then devote much of their careers to 
        public service. High educational debt is an impediment that 
        discourages borrowers from pursuing low-paying public service 
        employment.
            (2) In 1993, Congress created the income-contingent loan 
        repayment option to help high-debt borrowers to have lower-
        paying public service careers.
            (3) This plan has not yet succeeded in removing the 
        barriers to public service created by high educational debt. 
        The principal problem is that borrowers who elect this option 
        do not receive debt forgiveness until they have been paying for 
        25 years. Graduates are unable to contemplate such a long 
        period of repayment before their educational debts are 
        forgiven. Many of them expect to be helping to pay for their 
        children's education within that period.
            (4) The goal of income-contingent repayment can be better 
        achieved by reducing the option's period of loan repayment and 
        forgiveness so that public service professionals will not be 
        forced to continue repaying their debt for 25 years after 
        completion of graduate school.
            (5) Some borrowers are discouraged from using the income-
        continent repayment option because it includes a severe 
        ``marriage penalty''. It attributes the incomes of both spouses 
        to each borrower spouse, so that when a borrower marries, the 
        amount of repayment due under the option is vastly increased. 
        The option can be made more equitable by attributing only half 
        of the income of a couple to each spouse.
            (6) Making adjustments to the income-contingent repayment 
        option will improve access to higher education opportunities 
        and will enable more graduates to work in public service.

SEC. 3. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 455(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087e(d)(1)(D)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ``and subject to 
        paragraph (6)'' after ``prescribed by the Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(6) Maximum repayment period for public service 
        employees.--
                    ``(A) Shortened period in recognition of service.--
                For purposes of paragraph (1)(D), in the case of 
                borrowers who, after electing to repay a loan on the 
                income contingent repayment plan, have been employed by 
                a qualified public service employer, whether or not 
                continuously, for at least eight years on a full-time 
                basis, the extended period of time prescribed by the 
                Secretary shall not exceed 15 years.
                    ``(B) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                the term `qualified public service employer' means any 
                State, local government, Federal agency, or other 
                organization (as such terms are defined by section 3371 
                of title 5, United States Code), any other office or 
                entity of the legislative branch, and any employer that 
                is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) or 
                section 501(c)(4) of title 26, United States Code.''.
    (b) Repayment Schedules for Married Borrowers.--Section 455(e)(2) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(e)(2)) is amended 
by--
            (1) by striking ``, or, if the borrower'' and all that 
        follows and inserting a period; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``If the borrower 
        is married, one-half of the combined adjusted gross income of 
        the borrower and of the borrower's spouse shall be attributed 
        to the borrower.''.
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