[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 646 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 646

 To amend section 435(o) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding 
                  the definition of economic hardship.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2009

 Mr. Burr (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. 
    Coburn) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 435(o) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding 
                  the definition of economic hardship.

    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 ``Medical Economic Deferment for 
Students Act'' or the ``MEDS Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIP.

    Section 435(o) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1085(o)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``or'' 
                after the semicolon;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                subparagraph (C); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following:
                    ``(B) such borrower is working full-time and has a 
                Federal educational debt burden that equals or exceeds 
                20 percent of such borrower's adjusted gross income, 
                and the difference between such borrower's adjusted 
                gross income minus such burden is less than 220 percent 
                of the greater of--
                            ``(i) the annual earnings of an individual 
                        earning the minimum wage under section 6 of the 
                        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; or
                            ``(ii) 150 percent of the poverty line, as 
                        defined under section 673(2) of the Community 
                        Services Block Grant Act, applicable to such 
                        borrower's family size; or''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(1)(B)'' and inserting 
        ``(1)(C)''.
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