# 114-hr-5899: Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act

114-hr-5899, Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act, is a 114th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-14] (D-CA); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5899
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 114-hr-5899
- Congress: 114
- Title: Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
- Introduced: 2016-07-14
- Sponsor: Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-14] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 8
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education (ED) to cancel 15%, 15%, 20%, 20%, and 30% of the amount a borrower owes after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of public service employment, respectively, on a William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan made after this bill's enactment. (Currently, the balance of a borrower's Direct Loan is canceled if the borrower is not in default and has made 120 monthly payments on such loan while employed as a public service employee.) The bill: (1) requires borrowers availing themselves of such loan cancellation to submit an employment certification form that includes self-certification of employment and employer certification of employment dates, and (2) places the borrower's loan in deferment during the period in which the borrower is employed in an eligible public service job if the borrower submits such form to ED. If a portion of a loan is canceled for any year, the interest on such loan for such year shall be canceled.

## Cosponsors (8)

- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. [D-PA-2] (D-PA), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kilmer, Derek [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8] (D-NY), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33] (D-TX), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2016-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8] (D-CA), 2016-09-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA), 2016-11-30T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 114-hr-5044: Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2016 to respond to Zika virus.
- 114-hr-4592: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act
- 114-hr-4479: Families of Flint Act
- 114-hr-3706: Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015
- 114-hr-3514: WAGE Act
- 114-hr-3381: Childhood Cancer STAR Act

## Sources
- [114-hr-5899 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5899)

## Related
- [114-hr-5044: Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2016 to respond to Zika viru…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5044)
- [114-hr-4592: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-4592)
- [114-hr-4479: Families of Flint Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-4479)
- [114-hr-3706: Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3706)
- [114-hr-3514: WAGE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3514)
- [114-hr-3381: Childhood Cancer STAR Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3381)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5899 (as of 2025-11-18).