110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1167
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to provide funding
for student loan repayment for civil legal assistance attorneys.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 19, 2007
Mr. HARKIN 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 provide funding
for student loan repayment for civil legal assistance attorneys.
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 `Civil Legal Assistance Attorney Loan Repayment
Act'.
SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE ATTORNEYS.
Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 428K the following:
`SEC. 428L. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE ATTORNEYS.
`(a) Purpose- The purpose of this section is to encourage qualified individuals
to enter and continue employment as civil legal assistance attorneys.
`(b) Definitions- In this section:
`(1) CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE ATTORNEY- The term `civil legal assistance
attorney' means an attorney who--
`(A) is a full-time employee of a nonprofit organization that provides
legal assistance with respect to civil matters to low-income individuals
without a fee;
`(B) as such employee, provides civil legal assistance as described
in subparagraph (A) on a full-time basis; and
`(C) is continually licensed to practice law.
`(2) STUDENT LOAN- The term `student loan' means--
`(A) subject to subparagraph (B), a loan made, insured, or guaranteed
under part B, D, or E of this title; and
`(B) a loan made under section 428C or 455(g), to the extent that such
loan was used to repay--
`(i) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct PLUS Loan;
`(ii) a loan made under section 428, 428B, or 428H; or
`(iii) a loan made under part E.
`(c) Program Authorized- The Secretary shall carry out a program of assuming
the obligation to repay a student loan, by direct payments on behalf of
a borrower to the holder of such loan, in accordance with subsection (d),
for any borrower who--
`(1) is employed as a civil legal assistance attorney; and
`(2) is not in default on a loan for which the borrower seeks repayment.
`(1) IN GENERAL- To be eligible to receive repayment benefits under subsection
(c), a borrower shall enter into a written agreement with the Secretary
that specifies that--
`(A) the borrower will remain employed as a civil legal assistance attorney
for a required period of service of not less than 3 years, unless involuntarily
separated from that employment;
`(B) if the borrower is involuntarily separated from employment on account
of misconduct, or voluntarily separates from employment, before the
end of the period specified in the agreement, the borrower will repay
the Secretary the amount of any benefits received by such employee under
this agreement;
`(C) if the borrower is required to repay an amount to the Secretary
under subparagraph (B) and fails to repay such amount, a sum equal to
that amount shall be recoverable by the Federal Government from the
employee by such methods as are provided by law for the recovery of
amounts owed to the Federal Government;
`(D) the Secretary may waive, in whole or in part, a right of recovery
under this subsection if it is shown that recovery would be against
equity and good conscience or against the public interest; and
`(E) the Secretary shall make student loan payments under this section
for the period of the agreement, subject to the availability of appropriations.
`(A) IN GENERAL- Any amount repaid by, or recovered from, an individual
under this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation account
from which the amount involved was originally paid.
`(B) MERGER- Any amount credited under subparagraph (A) shall be merged
with other sums in such account and shall be available for the same
purposes and period, and subject to the same limitations, if any, as
the sums with which the amount was merged.
`(A) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT AMOUNT- Student loan repayments made by the
Secretary under this section shall be made subject to such terms, limitations,
or conditions as may be mutually agreed upon by the borrower and the
Secretary in an agreement under paragraph (1), except that the amount
paid by the Secretary under this section shall not exceed--
`(i) $6,000 for any borrower in any calendar year; or
`(ii) an aggregate total of $40,000 in the case of any borrower.
`(B) BEGINNING OF PAYMENTS- Nothing in this section shall authorize
the Secretary to pay any amount to reimburse a borrower for any repayments
made by such borrower prior to the date on which the Secretary entered
into an agreement with the borrower under this subsection.
`(e) Additional Agreements-
`(1) IN GENERAL- On completion of the required period of service under
an agreement under subsection (d), the borrower and the Secretary may,
subject to paragraph (2), enter into an additional agreement in accordance
with subsection (d).
`(2) TERM- An agreement entered into under paragraph (1) may require the
borrower to remain employed as a civil legal assistance attorney for less
than 3 years.
`(f) Award Basis; Priority-
`(1) AWARD BASIS- Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall provide
repayment benefits under this section on a first-come, first-served basis,
and subject to the availability of appropriations.
`(2) PRIORITY- The Secretary shall give priority in providing repayment
benefits under this section in any fiscal year to a borrower who--
`(A) has practiced law for 5 years or less and, for at least 90 percent
of the time in such practice, has served as a civil legal assistance
attorney;
`(B) received repayment benefits under this section during the preceding
fiscal year; and
`(C) has completed less than 3 years of the first required period of
service specified for the borrower in an agreement entered into under
subsection (d).
`(g) Regulations- The Secretary is authorized to issue such regulations
as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
`(h) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums
as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.'.
END
