[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 848 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 848
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the
service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 18, 2021
Mr. Braun (for himself and Ms. Sinema) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the
service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, 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 ``Consider Teachers Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS.
Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-
2) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(referred
to in this section as the `service obligation
window')'' after ``under this subpart'';
(B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting ``or
geographic area'' after ``field''; and
(C) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) and
inserting the following:
``(D) submit a certification of employment by the
chief administrative officer of the school in
accordance with subsection (d)(5); and
``(E) meet all State certification requirements for
teaching (which may include meeting such requirements
through a certification obtained through alternative
routes to teaching);'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``In the event'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--In the event''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Reconsideration of conversion decisions.--
``(A) Request to reconsider.--In any case where the
Secretary has determined that a recipient of a grant
under this subpart has failed or refused to comply with
the service obligation in the agreement under
subsection (b) and has converted the grant into a
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D
in accordance with paragraph (1), (including a TEACH
Grant converted to a loan prior to the date of
enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and
including cases where such loans have been fully or
partially paid), the recipient may request that the
Secretary reconsider such initial determination and may
submit additional information to demonstrate
satisfaction of the service obligation. Upon receipt of
such a request, the Secretary shall reconsider the
determination in accordance with this paragraph not
later than 90 days after the date that such request was
received.
``(B) Reconsideration.--If, in reconsidering an
initial determination under subparagraph (A) (including
reconsideration related to a TEACH Grant that was
converted to a loan prior to the date of enactment of
the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and including cases
where such loans were fully or partially paid), the
Secretary determines that the reason for such
determination was the recipient's failure to timely
submit a certification required under subsection
(b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021), an
error or processing delay by the Secretary, a change to
the fields considered eligible for fulfillment of the
service obligation (as described in subsection
(b)(1)(C)), a recipient having previously requested to
have the TEACH Grant converted to a loan, or another
valid reason determined by the Secretary, and that the
recipient has, as of the date of the reconsideration,
demonstrated that the recipient did meet, or is meeting
the service obligation in the agreement under
subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
``(i) discharge the Federal Direct
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D, and
reinstate the recipient's grant under this
subpart;
``(ii) discharge any interest or fees that
may have accumulated during the period that the
grant was converted to a Federal Direct
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D;
``(iii) if the recipient has other loans
under part D, apply any payments made for the
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under
part D during such period to those other loans
under part D;
``(iv) if the recipient does not have other
loans under part D, reimburse the recipient for
any amounts paid on the Federal Direct
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D during
such period;
``(v) request that consumer reporting
agencies remove any negative credit reporting
due to the conversion of the TEACH Grant to a
loan; and
``(vi) use the additional information
provided under subparagraph (A) to determine
the progress the recipient has made in meeting
the service obligation.
``(C) Extension of time to complete service
obligation.--In the case of a recipient whose TEACH
Grant was reinstated in accordance with subparagraph
(B), the Secretary shall, upon such reinstatement--
``(i) extend the time remaining for the
recipient to fulfill the service obligation
described in subsection (b)(1) to a period of
time equal to--
``(I) 8 years; minus
``(II) the number of full academic
years of teaching that the recipient
completed prior to the reconversion of
the loan to a TEACH Grant under
subparagraph (B), including any years
of qualifying teaching completed during
the period when the TEACH Grant was in
loan status; and
``(ii) treat any full academic years of
teaching described in clause (i)(II) as years
that count toward the individual's service
obligation (regardless of whether the TEACH
Grant funds were in grant or loan status) if
that time otherwise meets the requirements of
this section.''; and
(3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Communication with recipients.--The Secretary shall
notify TEACH grant recipients not less than once per calendar
year regarding how to submit the employment certification under
subsection (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and requirements
for submitting that certification under subsection (d)(5).
``(4) Qualifying schools and high-need fields.--The
Secretary shall maintain and annually update a list of
qualifying schools as described in subsection (b)(1)(B), and a
list of high-need fields as described in subsection (b)(1)(C)
and shall make such lists publicly available on the
Department's website in a sortable and searchable format.''.
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION.
Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1070g-2(d)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(5) Submission of employment certification.--
``(A) Recommended submissions.--The Secretary shall
notify TEACH Grant recipients that the Department
recommends that TEACH Grant recipients submit the
employment certification described in subsection
(b)(1)(D) as soon as practicable after the completion
of each year of service.
``(B) Required submission.--A TEACH Grant recipient
shall be required to submit to the Department
employment certification within the timeframe that
would allow that individual to complete their service
obligation before the end of the service obligation
window.
``(C) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify
TEACH Grant recipients of the required submission
deadlines described in this paragraph.
``(D) Adjustment of deadline.--The Secretary shall
adjust the submission deadline described in
subparagraph (B) to account for a service obligation
window extension.
``(E) Alternative to certification.--The Secretary
shall provide an alternative to the certification of
employment described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for
recipients who cannot obtain such required
certification of employment from the chief
administrative officer of the school because the
recipient can demonstrate the school is no longer in
existence or the school refuses to cooperate.''.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGATION DUE TO COVID-
19.
(a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20 U.S.C.
1001 note) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``For the purpose of section 420N of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2), during a qualifying emergency,''
and inserting ``Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of
part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ``such section 420N.''
and inserting ``section 420N of such Act; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) shall extend the service obligation window (as
described in section 420N(b)(1)(A) of such Act) for a period of
not more than 3 years, in addition to any extensions provided
in accordance with subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.), in the
case of a grant recipient whose service obligation window
begins during, or includes--
``(A) the qualifying emergency period; or
``(B) a period of recession or economic downturn
related to the qualifying emergency period, as
determined by the Secretary in consultation with the
Secretary of Labor.''.
(b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20 U.S.C.
1001 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Federal Perkins Loans.--Notwithstanding section 465 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee), the Secretary shall
waive the requirements of such section in regard to full-time service
and shall consider an incomplete year of service of a borrower as
fulfilling the requirement for a complete year of service under such
section, if the service was interrupted due to a qualifying
emergency.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect as if included in the enactment of the CARES Act (Public Law
116-136).
SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION.
In carrying out this Act and any amendments made by this Act, or
any regulations promulgated under this Act or under such amendments,
the Secretary of Education may waive the application of--
(1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States
Code (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'');
(2) the master calendar requirements under section 482 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089);
(3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a); and
(4) the requirement to publish the notices related to the
system of records of the agency before implementation required
under paragraphs (4) and (11) of section 552a(e) of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of
1974''), except that the notices shall be published not later
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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