[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1066 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1066
To allow certain student loan borrowers to refinance Federal student
loans.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2013
Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow certain student loan borrowers to refinance Federal student
loans.
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 ``Federal Student Loan Refinancing
Act''.
SEC. 2. STUDENT LOAN CONSOLIDATION.
Section 459B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087i-
2) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ``section'' and
inserting ``subsection'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``this section'' and
inserting ``subsection (a)'' each place the term appears; and
(3) by inserting at the end the following:
``(c) Temporary Loan Consolidation Authority for Certain Loans Made
After July 1, 2006.--
``(1) Loan consolidation authority.--
``(A) In general.--A borrower who has 1 or more
loans in a category described in subparagraph (B) may
consolidate all of the loans of the borrower that are
described in subparagraph (B) into a Federal Direct
Consolidation Loan during the period described in
subparagraph (C).
``(B) Categories of loans that may be
consolidated.--The categories of loans that may be
consolidated under subparagraph (A) are loans made on
or after July 1, 2006, that are--
``(i) loans made under this part;
``(ii) loans purchased by the Secretary
pursuant to section 459A; and
``(iii) loans made under part B that are
held by an eligible lender, as such term is
defined in section 435(d).
``(C) Time period in which loans may be
consolidated.--
``(i) Federal direct loans.--In the case of
a borrower who has 1 or more loans described
under subparagraph (B)(i), the Secretary
shall--
``(I) consolidate the loans
described under subparagraph (B)(i) not
later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Federal Student Loan
Refinancing Act; and
``(II) notify the borrower, in
writing, prior to such consolidation
that--
``(aa) the borrower's loans
under this part have been
consolidated at a lower
interest rate; and
``(bb) the borrower's
repayment plan and the other
terms and conditions of the
borrower's loan remain
unchanged.
``(ii) Other loans.--In the case of a
borrower who has 1 or more loans described
under clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (B),
the Secretary shall--
``(I) initiate the loan
consolidation process for the loans
described under clause (ii) or (iii) of
subparagraph (B), not later than 90
days after the date of enactment of the
Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act,
by sending a completed loan
consolidation application to the
borrower;
``(II) notify the borrower, as part
of such application, that a fee will be
assessed and that the interest rate of
the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan
will be set in accordance with
paragraph (2); and
``(III) notify the borrower, as
part of such application, that if the
borrower wishes to consolidate in
accordance with the completed
application, the borrower must endorse
the application and submit the
application to the Secretary not more
than 6 months after receipt of the
application.
``(2) Terms of loans.--The following terms and conditions
shall apply to a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan made under
this subsection:
``(A) The applicable rate of interest on a Federal
Direct Consolidation Loan made under this subsection
shall be--
``(i) 4 percent; or
``(ii) in a case in which the weighted
average of the interest rates on the
outstanding loans of a borrower that will be
consolidated is less than 4 percent, the lesser
of--
``(I) the weighted average of the
interest rates on the outstanding loans
of a borrower that will be
consolidated; or
``(II) a rate of interest equal
to--
``(aa) 4 percent; minus
``(bb) 0.4 percent of the
principal balance of the
consolidation loan, at the time
of consolidation.
``(B) In the case of a loan consolidated under
paragraph (1)(C)(ii), an origination fee equal to 0.4
percent of the principal balance of the consolidation
loan, at the time of consolidation, will be added to
the principal balance of the loan, and the Secretary
shall use the fee to cover the cost of making and
servicing the loan.
``(C) If 1 or more of the loans being consolidated
is a loan described under subparagraph (B)(iii), the
interest rate on the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan
under this subsection shall be reduced by 0.25 percent.
``(D) Any benefit a borrower is receiving or
earning at the time a Federal Direct Consolidation loan
is issued under this subsection shall not be affected
by consolidation under this section, including benefits
such as a deferment or forbearance, accumulation of
monthly payments as part of the public service loan
forgiveness program under section 455(m), accumulation
of monthly payments toward a loan discharge under the
income-based repayment plan under section 493C,
participation in a particular repayment plan, and other
benefits to the borrower.''.
SEC. 3. EXEMPTIONS FROM OTHER LAWS.
(a) Exemption From the Paperwork Reduction Act.--Chapter 35 of
title 44, United States Code, shall not apply to this Act.
(b) Inapplicability of Rulemaking Requirements.--Sections 482(c)
and 492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c), 1098a)
and section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the
amendments made by this Act, or to any regulations promulgated under
such amendments.
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