Bill > HR5399

Introduced Session

Student Loan Repayment Assistance Act of 2014 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow borrowers of William D. Ford Federal Direct Stafford Loans to opt to extend the period before they must begin to repay such loans to one year after they cease to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload if the unemployment rate is greater than the natural rate of employment (as established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System). (Currently, the repayment period for Direct Stafford Loans begins six months after borrowers cease to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload.) Subsidizes the interest that accrues on Direct Stafford Loans for the first six months of that extended grace period. Makes this Act applicable to Direct Stafford Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2013. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee amounts paid by an employer under a student loan payment assistance program. Requires participating employees to pay at least $50 per month on their student loans (in addition to the amount excluded from their gross income under such program). Limits the amount of such exclusion to $6,000 in a taxable year. Requires an employer student loan payment assistance program to be a separate written plan of an employer to provide employees with student loan payment assistance. Defines "student loan payment assistance" as the payment of principal or interest on any indebtedness incurred by an employee solely to pay qualified higher education expenses that are paid or incurred within a reasonable time before or after such indebtedness was incurred and that are attributable to education furnished during a period in which such employee was a student eligible for federal financial assistance. Allows an employee to take an income tax deduction in an amount equal to the employee's student loan payments that are matched by excludible employer contributions under a student loan payment assistance program. Limits the amount of such deduction to $6,000 in a taxable year and $50,000 over a lifetime.

Committee Categories

Scott Peters (D)*,  Juan Vargas (D), 

Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (on 11/17/2014)

Official Document