PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS EQUALITY PETITION

 We the undersigned, call on the Congress of the United States of America to amend the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and remove from the bill the requirement of employment in non-profit only, (501(c)(3)), Public Health and Public Service, as a qualification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness as set forth in the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007.

The original COLLEGE COST REDUCTION AND ACCESS ACT, TITLE IV, LOAN FORGIVENESS, Section 455 (20 U.S.C. 1087e) was created for those people employed in Public Service and Public Health (amendments and definitions below) OR employees of an organization that qualifies as a “non-profit” (501(c)(3)), or faculty member at a Tribal college or university.

 Whereas:

• Current, outstanding student loan debt has surpassed the $1 TRILLION dollar mark; the largest percentage of these borrowers is made from thousands of small, for-profit healthcare practitioners paying over 60% of their income to service unmanageable student debt,
• Thousands of small, for-profit, Public Health employees and practitioners, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, provide health care services to Americans with disabilities and recipients of entitlement programs for substantially reduced fees and pro bono, bringing financial peril to the practitioner/provider,
• Thousands of small, for-profit, Doctors are leaving school carrying average debts of $155,000; up from an inflation-adjusted $50,000 in debt 25 years ago, representing eight times the debt load of a typical college graduate,
• As of September 2010, the student loan default rate was 8.8%, up from 7% the previous year and is rising,
• The New York Federal Reserve analyzed consumer credit data from Equifax and found nearly 30-percent of student loan borrowers have overdue balances, while 21-percent are currently delinquent,
• The inability to re-finance student loan debt for lower interest rates and the inability to discharge said debt in Federal Bankruptcy filings creates and environment of crushing, unmanageable debt that inhibits the overall economy,

We resolve that:

          We the undersigned, who struggle to pay unmanageable student loan debt, do not agree that the exclusion of small, for-profit entities from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is an equitable application of loan forgiveness qualifications, especially considering congressional staffers are exempt from repaying student loans.

·         We the undersigned urge Congress to restore the original definitions and intent of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness requirements set forth in the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, to include small, for-profit entities whom render services to individuals with disabilities, the elderly and persons receiving state and federal entitlement benefits at substantially reduced fees and pro bono, and/or non-profit organizations.

 AMENDMENT/DEFINITIONS: COLLEGE COST REDUCTION AND ACCESS ACT, TITLE IV, LOAN FORGIVENESS, Section 455 (20 U.S.C. 1087e) was further amended by adding at the end the following:

 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC SERVICE JOB.—The term ‘public service job’ means—

‘‘(i) a full-time job in emergency management, government, military service, public safety, law enforcement, public health, public education (including early childhood education), social work in a public child or family service agency, public interest law services (including prosecution or public defense or legal advocacy in low-income communities at a nonprofit organization), public child care, public service for individuals with disabilities, public service for the elderly, public library sciences, school-based library sciences and other school-based services, OR at an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code; or ‘‘(ii) teaching as a full-time faculty member at a Tribal College or University as defined in section 316(b) and other faculty teaching in high-needs areas, as determined by the Secretary.’’

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