A new bill - the Simplifying and Strengthening PSLF Act — has been introduced by US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to streamline and improve public service loan forgiveness.
On the same day that the Biden administration announced $5.8 billion in student loan cancellations, the largest amount in U.S. history, this proposal would
Make student loan forgiveness faster by reducing student loan repayments from 120 payments over ten years to 60 payments over five years;
Allow all previous student loan repayments to be counted as a qualifying payment
regardless of the federal loan type, the repayment plan, or the timely or in full repayment of the student loan.
Enhance eligibility: Consider any month a member of the military or a Peace Corps volunteer serves as a monthly payment towards a military or Peace Corps loan, regardless of whether the loan was under forbearance or deferment during the time of service;
Student loan consolidation again: Allow parent PLUS loan borrowers and couples who previously combined their federal student loans into one Direct Loan to combine their student loans into one Direct Loan to be eligible for public service loan forgiveness.
Americans who pursued careers in public service received loan relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Whitehouse said. "Instead, they got sucked into a bureaucratic nightmare that had no end in sight."