H.R. 5816

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5816 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5816

To prohibit penalties, interest accrual, negative credit implications, 
or other adverse actions for qualified student loans for Federal 
employees during a lapse in Federal funding.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 24, 2025

Ms. Crockett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To prohibit penalties, interest accrual, negative credit implications, 
or other adverse actions for qualified student loans for Federal 
employees during a lapse in Federal funding.

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 ``Halting Education Loan Payments 
during Federal Employment Disruptions Act'' or the ``HELP FEDs Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Federal employee.--The term ``Federal employee'' 
means--
(A) an employee as defined in section 2105 of title 
5, United States Code;
(B) an employee as defined in section 2107 of title 
5, United States Code; and
(C) a judicial employee as defined in section 
13101(9) of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Qualified education loan.--The term ``qualified 
education loan'' means any loan made, insured, or guaranteed 
under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071-1087ii), 
including loans held by the Department of Education or 
contracted loan servicers.
(3) Involuntary disruption of pay.--The term ``involuntary 
disruption of pay'' means a situation where a Federal employee 
does not receive their scheduled wages due to a lapse in 
funding resulting in the Federal Government to cease operations 
as identified under section 1341 of title 31, United States 
Code.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION FROM PENALTIES AND ADVERSE CREDIT ACTIONS DURING 
INVOLUNTARY DISRUPTION OF PAY.

(a) Waiver of Penalties and Late Fees.--No Federal employee shall 
be assessed any late fee, penalty, or other adverse action on any 
qualified education loan for any payment missed due during a period of 
involuntary disruption of pay.
(b) Waiver on Interest Accrual.--No Federal employee shall incur 
additional interest on any qualified education loan during a period of 
involuntary disruption of pay.
(c) No Adverse Credit Reporting.--The Secretary of Education shall 
coordinate with credit reporting agencies and loan servicers to ensure 
that no adverse information related to delayed or missed payments of a 
Federal employee described in subsection (a) is furnished to any 
consumer reporting agency, as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a).
(d) Retroactive Application.--This section shall apply 
retroactively to any instance of involuntary disruption of pay 
occurring on or after October 1, 2025. The Secretary shall coordinate 
with credit reporting agencies and loan servicers to remove any adverse 
credit information that was inappropriately reported.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education, in coordination with 
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Administrative 
Office of the United States Courts, the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives, and Secretary of the Senate, shall issue regulations 
and guidance for the Department, borrowers, loan servicers, and credit 
agencies necessary to implement this Act within 30 days of the date of 
enactment of this Act.
(b) Compliance and Enforcement.--Loan servicers and credit 
reporting agencies shall cooperate fully with the Secretary of 
Education in implementing this Act.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to excuse the full repayment 
of qualified education loans or to eliminate any otherwise existing 
repayment obligation.

SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision 
to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of 
this Act shall not be affected.
<all>