[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9284 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9284

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit the interest rate 
 on student loans incurred by a servicemember before military service 
 and consolidated or refinanced during military service, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2024

Mrs. Ramirez (for herself, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Levin, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. 
 Salinas, Ms. Adams, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Lee of California, and 
 Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit the interest rate 
 on student loans incurred by a servicemember before military service 
 and consolidated or refinanced during military service, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Servicemember Student Loan 
Affordability Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON INTEREST RATE OF STUDENT LOANS INCURRED BEFORE 
              MILITARY SERVICE AND CONSOLIDATED OR REFINANCED DURING 
              MILITARY SERVICE.

    (a) Establishment.--Subsection (a) of section 207 of the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3937) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``on debt incurred 
        before service'' after ``Limitation to 6 percent'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or (2)'' after 
        ``paragraph (1)'';
            (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (3)'';
            (4) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3), as amended, as 
        paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
            (5) by inserting, after paragraph (1), the following new 
        paragraph (2):
            ``(2) Limitation to 6 percent on student loans incurred 
        before military service and consolidated or refinanced during 
        military service.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An obligation or liability 
                bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per 
                year that is incurred by a servicemember, or the 
                servicemember and the servicemember's spouse jointly, 
                during military service to consolidate or refinance a 
                student loan incurred by the servicemember before such 
                military service, shall not bear an interest at a rate 
                in excess of 6 percent during the period of military 
                service.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--Subparagraph (A) shall apply only 
                to the consolidation or refinancing of student loans 
                described in such subparagraph and shall not apply to 
                the consolidation or refinancing of any other 
                obligation or liability.''.
    (b) Effective Date of Limitation.--Subsection (b) of such section 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``the interest rate 
        limitation'' and inserting ``an interest rate limitation''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking the heading and inserting 
                ``Effective date of limitation''; and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``in the case of an obligation or liability 
                described in paragraph (1) of such subsection, or as of 
                the date on which the servicemember incurs (or the 
                servicemember and spouse jointly incur) the obligation 
                or liability described in paragraph (2) of such 
                subsection''.
    (c) Student Loan Defined.--Subsection (d) of such section is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Student loan.--The term `student loan' means any of 
        the following:
                    ``(A) A Federal student loan made, insured, or 
                guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Education Act 
                of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).
                    ``(B) A private education loan, as such term is 
                defined in section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act 
                (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)).''.
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