[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2207 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2207
To allow qualified volunteer first responders to qualify for public
service loan forgiveness.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 7, 2017
Mr. Tester (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, and Ms. Heitkamp) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow qualified volunteer first responders to qualify for public
service loan forgiveness.
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 ``Volunteer First Responder Loan
Forgiveness Act''.
SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDERS.
Section 455(m)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1087e(m)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) volunteer work as a qualified
volunteer first responder in accordance with
subparagraph (C).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Qualified volunteer first responder.--
``(i) In general.--The term `qualified
volunteer first responder' means an individual
who--
``(I) does volunteer work for a
public safety organization (which may
include firefighters, law enforcement
officers, emergency medical personnel,
or other first responders to
emergencies); and
``(II) is certified as a
firefighter, law enforcement officer,
emergency medical services provider, or
other responder in the State, unit of
general local government, or Indian
tribe in which the individual serves as
a volunteer.
``(ii) Public safety organization.--The
term `public safety organization' means any
State, local, or tribal governmental agency or
nonprofit organization that has the principal
purpose of protecting the safety of life,
health, or property.
``(iii) Full-time employment.--The
Secretary shall--
``(I) determine the minimum
volunteer time required for a qualified
volunteer first responder to be treated
as an individual employed in a full-
time job for purposes of this
subsection; and
``(II) ensure that such minimum
volunteer time--
``(aa) is not less than the
amount of volunteer time that
is required for the qualified
volunteer first responder to be
considered an active member of
the relevant public safety
organization; and
``(bb) does not exceed the
equivalent of 200 hours per
year.''.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary of Education shall promulgate, after consultation
with public safety organizations (which shall include firefighter, law
enforcement officer, and emergency responder organizations),
regulations to carry out the amendments made by section 2, including
regulations relating to--
(1) the minimum volunteer time required for a qualified
volunteer first responder to be treated as an individual
employed in a full-time job for purposes of section 455(m) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)); and
(2) the process of tracking and verifying that volunteer
time.
SEC. 4. ENGAGEMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS.
The Secretary of Education shall develop a plan regarding how the
Department of Education will--
(1) disseminate information and raise awareness about
eligibility for qualified volunteer first responders for public
service loan forgiveness under section 455(m) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) (as amended by this
Act); and
(2) engage qualified volunteer first responders and public
safety organizations in the process of tracking and verifying
volunteer hours for purposes of public service loan forgiveness
under such section.
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