[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5023 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5023

 To suspend and reform the authority under the Higher Education Act of 
1965 for the Secretary of Education to carry out an administrative wage 
                          garnishment program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 15, 2020

Mr. Booker (for himself and Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To suspend and reform the authority under the Higher Education Act of 
1965 for the Secretary of Education to carry out an administrative wage 
                          garnishment program.

    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 ``Ending Administrative Garnishment 
Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF WAGE GARNISHMENT.

    Section 488A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1095a) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Suspension of Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--Beginning on the date of enactment of 
        the Ending Administrative Garnishment Act of 2020, the 
        authority provided under subsection (a) to garnish the 
        disposable pay of an individual shall be suspended until the 
        date the Secretary submits to the Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 
        on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives the 
        certification described in paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Certification.--Not earlier than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of the Ending Administrative Garnishment Act 
        of 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 
        on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives a 
        certification that either--
                    ``(A) the Secretary has implemented a process 
                through which--
                            ``(i) individuals who have had their 
                        disposable pay improperly garnished in 
                        violation of this section, or of any other 
                        instruction by the Secretary, are able to have 
                        their refund processed and returned to them not 
                        later than one calendar week after the date of 
                        such violation;
                            ``(ii) the Secretary can independently 
                        cease or suspend the administrative wage 
                        garnishment program authorized under this 
                        section at any time, at the sole discretion of 
                        the Secretary, including suspension of the 
                        garnishment of any individual student loan 
                        borrower or a cohort of borrowers; and
                            ``(iii) the Secretary obtains a quarterly 
                        verification from each employer through which 
                        garnishment is carried out under this section 
                        that all information necessary to implement 
                        garnishment under this section with respect to 
                        an individual employee is accurate, including 
                        an estimate of the amount scheduled to be 
                        garnished in the subsequent quarter, and the 
                        name, address, phone number, and email address 
                        for both the employee and the employer; or
                    ``(B) the Secretary is unable to implement the 
                process described in subparagraph (A) and has 
                determined that the garnishment of the disposable pay 
                shall not apply to individuals as authorized under 
                subsection (a).
            ``(3) Data collection.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Secretary submits a 
                certification under paragraph (2) that the Secretary 
                has implemented the process described in paragraph 
                (2)(A), the Secretary, upon submission of such 
                certification, shall establish a centralized database 
                containing--
                            ``(i) the addresses, occupations, 
                        employers, and other collectible demographic 
                        data of individuals whose disposable pay was 
                        subject to garnishment under this section on 
                        the day before the date of enactment of the 
                        Ending Administrative Garnishment Act of 2020; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the addresses, occupations, 
                        employers, and other collectible demographic 
                        data of individuals whose disposable pay is 
                        subject to garnishment under subsection (a).
                    ``(B) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                date the Secretary establishes the database under 
                subparagraph (A), and not less often than annually 
                thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the 
                Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
                the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of 
                the House of Representatives summarizing the 
                information contained in the database and evaluating 
                the exercise of the Secretary's authority under 
                subsection (a).
    ``(g) Right of Action Against Employer.--The employer shall be 
liable for, and the Secretary, the guaranty agency, or an individual, 
as appropriate, may sue the employer in a State or Federal court of 
competent jurisdiction to recover, any amount that such employer 
improperly withholds from wages due an employee following receipt by 
such employer of notice of suspension or revocation of the withholding 
order, and actual damages, plus attorneys' fees, costs, and, in the 
court's discretion, punitive damages.
    ``(h) Department Action After Improper Garnishment.--Not later than 
10 days after the date the Secretary receives an individual's 
disposable pay that has been improperly garnished, the Secretary shall 
pay the borrower twice the actual amount of wages garnished. 
Notwithstanding section 432(a)(2), an injunction against the Secretary 
may be issued to enforce this subsection.
    ``(i) Limits on Use.--The Secretary may not garnish the disposable 
pay of an individual under this section with respect to a loan that has 
been outstanding for more than 10 years.''.

SEC. 3. PARITY WITH INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT.

    Section 488A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1095a) 
is amended by striking subsection (a)(1) and inserting:
            ``(1)(A) Parity with income-driven repayment.--The amount 
        deducted in any calendar month shall not exceed the amount that 
        a similarly-situated individual would be required to make for 
        such month under the income-driven repayment plan that offers 
        the lowest monthly payment.
            ``(B) Income-driven repayment defined.--In this subsection, 
        the term `income-driven repayment' means--
                    ``(i) income-based repayment authorized under 
                section 493C for loans made, insured, or guaranteed 
                under part B or part D; or
                    ``(ii) income contingent repayment authorized under 
                section 455(e), for loans made under part D.
            ``(C) Similarly-situated individual defined.--With respect 
        to an individual, the term `similarly situated individual' 
        means another individual with an eligible loan who would be 
        eligible to enroll in income-driven repayment and has the same 
        income and family size characteristics.''.

SEC. 4. COLLECTION AND COMPROMISE.

    Section 3711 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(j) Additional Requirements for the United States Department of 
Education.--
            ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section shall permit the 
        Secretary of Education to exercise any authority under this 
        section without first satisfying the requirements established 
        under section 488A(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1095a(f)).
            ``(2) Parity with income-driven repayment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, for any debts owed to the Department 
                of Education or insured by the Department of Education, 
                the total amount collected under this section shall not 
                exceed the amount that a similarly situated individual 
                would be required to make for such month under the 
                income-driven repayment plan that offers the lowest 
                monthly payment, or by year in the case of a tax refund 
                offset.
                    ``(B) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                            ``(i) Income-driven repayment.--The term 
                        `income-driven repayment' means--
                                    ``(I) income-based repayment 
                                authorized under section 493C of the 
                                Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                                1098e) for loans made, insured, or 
                                guaranteed under part B or part D of 
                                title IV of such Act; or
                                    ``(II) income contingent repayment 
                                authorized under section 455(e) of such 
                                Act (20 U.S.C. 1087e(e)), for loans 
                                made under part D of title IV of such 
                                Act.
                            ``(ii) Similarly situated individual.--With 
                        respect to an individual, the term `similarly 
                        situated individual' means another individual 
                        with an eligible loan who would be eligible to 
                        enroll in income-driven repayment and has the 
                        same income and family size characteristics.
            ``(3) Limits on use.--The Secretary of Education shall not 
        collect on a debt under the authority under this section of an 
        individual with respect to a loan that has been outstanding for 
        more than 10 years.''.
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