{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/courtney-desaulnier-sarbanes-introduce-legislation-institute-major", "Courtney, DeSaulnier, Sarbanes Introduce Legislation to Institute Major Reforms to Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program", "2024-12-18", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Joe Courtney", "C001069", "courtney.house.gov", "courtney", "https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), a senior member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee, and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), introduced new legislation to institute major reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.\n\nIn 2007, Rep. Sarbanes authored, and President George W. Bush enacted, the law creating PSLF to attract more Americans to careers like teaching, public health, and law enforcement by providing those who work in these critical professions with a mechanism to discharge the balance of their student loan following at least ten years of consistent, on-time payments.\n\nUnfortunately, borrowers have faced significant challenges in navigating the program and accessing loan relief. While the Biden Administration has heeded Members\u2019 calls to make several fixes, which Rep. Courtney has worked to make permanent, it is clear significant reforms are required to achieve the program\u2019s intended promise.\n\nThe Strengthening Efforts for Relief and Vital Incentives for Community Service Engagement Act, or the SERVICE Act, achieves that goal by shortening the time to forgiveness from 120 payments (10 years) to 96 payments (eight years); providing borrowers with more flexibility to make qualifying payments; expanding deferment options in lieu of payments to include military service, cancer treatments, and other circumstances to count as qualifying months of payments; and improving borrowers\u2019 rights and transparency.\n\n\u201cPSLF was established to reward Americans who entered careers that our communities depend on, like teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers. My office has heard from many people in these professions who worked hard, followed the rules, but were still denied the PSLF relief they were promised, and we've been pressing on their behalf to make the program more transparent and fairer. The SERVICE Act will make it easier for America's public service workers to qualify for, navigate, and benefit from this patriotic program. Today\u2019s action will ensure we can hit the ground running in the next Congress to deliver on this goal,\u201d said Rep. Courtney.\n\n\u201cThe Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) began as a way for the federal government to recruit quality candidates, and for borrowers to access life-changing debt relief while also serving their communities,\u201d said Ranking Member Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (VA-03). \u201cThe SERVICE Act builds on the improvements the Biden-Harris Administration made to PSLF by reducing the number of monthly payments and simplifying the process borrowers use to achieve debt relief. It also represents Congressional Democrats\u2019 commitment to improving our nation\u2019s higher education system for students and their families.\"\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s teachers, social workers, public defenders, service members, and community health care workers make tremendous contributions to our communities while being compensated far less than their counterparts in the private sector, and it\u2019s time we do more to honor their sacrifices,\u201d said Congressman DeSaulnier. \u201cThis bill would make long-overdue reforms to the PSLF system to create a clear path to student loan forgiveness for America\u2019s valuable public servants.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I authored the law creating the PSLF program in 2007, it was designed to make it easier for individuals to pursue public service. Unfortunately, technical challenges, servicer errors and bureaucratic hurdles prevented many eligible public servants from accessing relief,\" said Rep. Sarbanes. \"That is why I have long advocated for improvements to PSLF to ensure that the program fulfills its promise. Now, thanks to the Biden Administration's tireless efforts to fix several implementation challenges, over 1 million public service workers have received relief, and many more have been brought closer to forgiveness. The SERVICE Act builds on this progress by codifying fixes, streamlining the path to forgiveness and easing the debt burden for those who serve our communities.\"\n\nSpecifically, the SERVICE Act:\n\nReduces the number of qualifying payments from 120 payments to 96 payments\n\nProvides borrowers with streamlined pathways to debt relief by:\n\nAllowing up to three months of prepayment to help borrowers prepare for future expenses while still progressing towards 96 qualifying payments; and\n\nCodifying the Department of Education's (Department) buyback regulations which allows qualified borrowers who have completed 96 months of service, but not 96 payments to \"buyback\" the months they need to achieve debt relief.\n\nFixes program eligibility issues by:\n\nAllowing independent contractors working public service jobs in states that cannot fill those roles with direct employees to qualify for PSLF; and\n\nRepealing the prohibition on receiving debt relief for the same service under PSLF and loan forgiveness for teachers.\n\nExpands the qualifying deferments and forbearances allowed to include military service, cancer treatments, economic hardships, unemployment, and more.\n\nImproves borrowers' rights and transparency by:\n\nCreating an online web portal for borrowers to receive information from the Department, review their status in the program, and submit forms to the Department; and\n\nCodifying the consideration process for borrowers to appeal to the Secretary if their loan cancellation is denied.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 bill is a part of the Roadmap to College Student Success, House Democrats\u2019 campaign to reform America\u2019s higher education system for students and families. The \u201croadmap\u201d brings together a series of bold proposals focused on bringing down the cost of college, helping students access a quality degree, and\u2014once students are in school\u2014providing them with the support they need to graduate. Learn more about the Roadmap to College Student Success here.\n\nTo read the fact sheet, click here", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/courtney-desaulnier-sarbanes-introduce-legislation-institute-major"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.5466887056827545, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}