H.R. 7789

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7789 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7789

To authorize the creation of ``Lending.gov'' as a shared services 
platform to provide a single source of access to loans provided by 
Federal agencies, and modern technology to support effective management 
of Federal credit programs, in order to reduce costs, prevent fraud, 
increase the speed of origination, improve transparency, improve access 
and customer experience, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 4, 2026

Mr. Finstad (for himself and Mr. Krishnamoorthi) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the creation of ``Lending.gov'' as a shared services 
platform to provide a single source of access to loans provided by 
Federal agencies, and modern technology to support effective management 
of Federal credit programs, in order to reduce costs, prevent fraud, 
increase the speed of origination, improve transparency, improve access 
and customer experience, and for other purposes.

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 ``Federal Loan Systems Modernization 
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Administrator; administration.--The terms 
``Administrator'' and ``Administration'' mean the Administrator 
of General Services and the General Services Administration, 
respectively.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives.
(4) Customer agency.--The term ``customer agency'' means an 
agency participating in the Platform.
(5) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget.
(6) Federal loan program.--The term ``Federal loan 
program'' means any direct or guaranteed Federal loan or credit 
program administered by an agency.
(7) Loan management.--The term ``loan management'' means a 
collection of credit program loan and loan guarantee 
administrative activities, such as application intake and 
process, underwriting, servicing, close-out, information 
exchange, document creation, reporting, and fraud detection, 
that--
(A) are executed at the various phases of the 
Federal lending process;
(B) are core to effective program delivery, 
financial management, and customer experience;
(C) are subject to modernization; and
(D) do not entail any change of authority of the 
agency overseeing the function of a Federal loan 
program.
(8) Loan management technology.--The term ``loan management 
technology'' means commercial use software adapted to meet 
Federal loan program requirements to streamline the execution 
of administrative activities relating to Federal loan 
management.
(9) Platform.--The term ``Platform'' means a centralized 
shared services lending platform established under section 
4(a), which includes an electronic portal for Federal direct 
lending applications, which shall be known as ``Lending.gov''.
(10) Provider.--The term ``Provider'' means a shared 
service provider of the Platform.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) address the inefficiencies caused by using outdated and 
fragmented technology to manage multiple Federal lending 
processes and Federal lending programs across agencies and 
mitigate consumer difficulties accessing Federal loan programs 
by incorporating commercially available technology to improve 
program effectiveness across all agencies through a dedicated 
loan application platform;
(2) authorize the creation of a centralized loan platform, 
to be known as ``Lending.gov'', utilizing industry-standard, 
commercially available loan processing software to streamline 
access to, and the administrative activities of, Federal loan 
programs in accordance with section 3307 of title 41, United 
States Code;
(3) establish Government-wide requirements for loan 
management, which will serve as the guiding criteria in the 
selection of commercially available technology to manage the 
Platform; and
(4) provide agencies with the responsibility and authority 
for establishing and maintaining oversight of the Platform.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LENDING.GOV PLATFORM.

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator shall submit to the Director and the appropriate 
congressional committees a plan to establish the Platform utilizing 
commercially available loan management technology, which shall 
include--
(1) designation of a lead agency as the initial Provider 
and operational host of the Platform;
(2) a review of Federal loan programs subject to 
integration into the Platform, in coordination with the Federal 
Credit Policy Council, including the agency that is the 
designated authority for each such Federal loan program;
(3) common deficiencies and areas of wasteful spending 
resulting from the use of outdated systems, including the 
findings of reports from various inspectors general of agencies 
and reports from the Government Accountability Office, among 
agencies that can be addressed through the creation of the 
Platform utilizing modern loan management technology;
(4) the proposed operational framework of the Platform;
(5) a plan to integrate commercial loan management 
technology to assist with standing-up and operating the 
Platform at the best value to the Federal Government, in 
accordance with section 3307 of title 41, United States Code;
(6) a timeline for implementation of the Platform; and
(7) an estimate of the costs of implementing the Platform.

SEC. 5. OPERATIONS OF THE LENDING.GOV PLATFORM.

(a) Responsibilities of the Provider.--The Provider shall--
(1) operate, maintain, and continuously improve the 
Platform, including all associated systems, tools, 
infrastructure, and customer-facing services necessary to 
support Federal loan programs;
(2) provide onboarding, technical assistance, and ongoing 
operational support to agencies migrating to, or utilizing, the 
Platform;
(3) provide participating agencies loan servicing and 
portfolio management solutions encompassing both financial and 
non-financial elements necessary to support service levels, 
cost benchmarking, program oversight, risk management, and 
customer experience metrics for both agencies and borrowers;
(4) ensure that the Platform complies with all applicable 
Federal requirements relating to cybersecurity, privacy, 
information security, data governance, cloud authorization, 
financial management, and credit program management;
(5) integrate commercially available loan management 
technology appropriate for the efficient operation of Federal 
loan programs, including tools for application intake, 
underwriting, servicing, reporting, fraud detection, and 
customer-experience management;
(6) enter into interagency agreements, service-level 
agreements, or other arrangements necessary to provide shared 
services to customer agencies and to recover costs as 
appropriate;
(7) include auditable financial management and subledger 
capabilities in the Platform that support agency oversight, 
reconciliation, and documentation of borrower remediation;
(8) ensure that customer agencies retain ownership and full 
access to all program data generated or maintained through the 
Platform; and
(9) ensure the portability of customer agency data, 
including the ability to export all records in standardized, 
non-proprietary formats.
(b) Program Manager Satisfaction.--
(1) Primary performance standard.--Program manager 
satisfaction at customer agencies shall be a primary 
performance standard governing the operation of the Platform.
(2) Annual survey.--The Provider shall, not less frequently 
than annually, conduct a standardized survey of relevant 
program managers and staff at each customer agency to assess 
satisfaction with the performance, functionality, service 
quality, and reliability of the Platform.
(3) Publication of results.--The Provider shall--
(A) transmit survey results to the Administrator 
and the Director;
(B) provide such results to each customer agency; 
and
(C) make survey results publicly available in a 
manner consistent with applicable law and protection of 
sensitive information.
(4) Remediation plans.--If survey results indicate that 
satisfaction for any customer agency or functional area falls 
below thresholds established jointly by the Provider and the 
Administrator, the Provider shall--
(A) develop a remediation plan to address 
identified deficiencies;
(B) submit the plan described in subparagraph (A) 
to the customer agency and Administrator not later than 
60 days after survey results are finalized;
(C) implement the plan described in subparagraph 
(A) promptly; and
(D) report quarterly to the customer agency and 
Administrator on progress in resolving deficiencies 
until satisfaction thresholds are met.
(5) Consultation requirement.--In developing remediation 
plans under paragraph (4), the Provider shall consult directly 
with the program managers and senior officials of the affected 
customer agency.
(c) Customer Agency Access.--Employees of the Provider shall be 
provided with appropriate badges and system access by customer agencies 
to facilitate seamless service provision and communications with 
employees of the customer agency.
(d) Performance Dashboards and Reporting.--The Provider shall 
establish, maintain, and make available to the Administrator, the 
Director, and customer agencies performance dashboards and regular 
reports on Platform availability, processing times, service levels, 
system performance, and other operational metrics, including metrics 
derived from subsection (b).
(e) Coordination and Oversight.--The Provider shall carry out its 
responsibilities under this section in coordination with the 
Administrator and the Director and subject to oversight under section 
7.

SEC. 6. MIGRATION TO PLATFORM.

(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the 
Administrator submits the report required under section 4, the 
Director, in consultation with the Administrator and the Provider and 
in collaboration with the heads of relevant agencies, shall commence 
migration of other agency loan management systems to the Platform, as 
outlined in the report.
(b) Deadline.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, each agency that administers a Federal loan program shall 
complete migration of its loan management systems to the Platform 
established under section 4, unless granted an exception by the 
Director under subsection (c)(2).
(c) Migration Criteria and Exceptions.--
(1) Criteria for migration.--The Director shall, in 
consultation with the Administrator, establish and publish 
criteria for determining which agencies shall migrate their 
loan management systems to the Platform, which shall include 
loan programs--
(A) that originate or service more than 50 loans 
annually; or
(B) with loan amounts of more than $10,000,000 in 
the aggregate.
(2) Exceptions.--
(A) In general.--The Director may grant an 
exception to the migration requirement under this 
section if the Director--
(i) determines that migration would be 
impracticable or contrary to the interest of 
program efficiency; and
(ii) notifies the appropriate congressional 
committees not later than 30 days after making 
that determination.
(B) Duration.--The Director may grant an exception 
under subparagraph (A) for a period of no longer than 3 
years.
(C) Notification.--The Director shall notify the 
Administrator of any exception granted under this 
paragraph not later than 15 days after making such 
determination.
(D) Plan.--Any agency that is granted an exception 
under subparagraph (A) shall, not later than 2 years of 
being granted an exception, develop a plan for 
migration after the initial exception period under 
subparagraph (B).

SEC. 7. OVERSIGHT OF MIGRATION AND MANAGEMENT.

(a) In General.--The Administrator shall provide oversight of the 
migration to, and management of, the Platform established under this 
Act, including--
(1) reviewing the adequacy of the operational framework of 
the Administration for the Platform, in consultation with the 
Federal Credit Policy Council;
(2) establishing Government-wide standards for loan 
management, in coordination with the Director and the Federal 
Credit Policy Council, that shall apply to the Provider and all 
Federal credit programs, and that shall facilitate migration to 
the Platform and efficient operations of loan management 
activities;
(3) providing a recommendation to the Director on each 
exception granted under section 6(c), including an analysis of 
the impact of such an exception on the long-term Government-
wide cost effectiveness of loan management and the financial 
sustainability of the Platform;
(4) monitoring agency compliance with migration 
requirements under section; and
(5) submitting to the appropriate congressional committees 
an annual report on the status of agency migrations, any 
exceptions granted by the Director under section 6(c)(2), the 
service levels provided to customer agencies of the Platform, 
any recommended investments or policy changes required to 
improve the functionality of the Platform, and an analysis of 
the long-term Government-wide cost effectiveness of loan 
management.
(b) Authority To Establish a Marketplace.--
(1) In general.--After establishment of the initial 
Platform, the Administrator shall make an assessment to 
determine if further adoption, service level improvements, and 
cost efficiencies would be achieved through the designation of 
additional Providers to create a shared services marketplace, 
and if so, make such a recommendation to the Director.
(2) Additional designations.--
(A) In general.--Based on the recommendation made 
under paragraph (1), the Director may designate up to 3 
additional agencies as shared service providers to 
assume and fulfill the authorities and responsibilities 
outlined for the Provider in section 5.
(B) Requirements.--Any additional designated shared 
service providers under subparagraph (A)--
(i) shall utilize the public facing 
capabilities established and managed by the 
initial Provider and operational host of the 
Platform designated under section 4(a) to 
promote a consistent experience for loan 
applicants through the Platform and reduce 
fragmentation across systems; and
(ii) may otherwise manage separate loan 
management support functions, with the approval 
of the Administrator.

SEC. 8. FINANCING OPERATIONS.

(a) In General.--Customer agencies shall reimburse the Provider for 
services through interagency agreements, service-level agreements, or 
other arrangements necessary to provide shared services through the 
Platform to participating customer agencies and to recover costs as 
appropriate.
(b) Remittance Fee.--
(1) In general.--To provide for ongoing operations and 
maintenance efforts to maintain the functioning standards of 
the Platform, the Provider may collect a remittance fee that 
shall be applied with respect to each Federal loan serviced 
through the Platform.
(2) Amount.--The amount of the remittance fee collected 
under paragraph (1) shall be determined by the Provider in 
consultation with the Administrator, but shall be not more than 
0.25 percent of the face value of the Federal loan serviced, 
unless otherwise authorized by law or guidance issued by the 
Director.
(3) Limit for direct loans to individuals.--A remittance 
fee under paragraph (1) shall not be assessed with respect to 
any direct loan made to an individual borrower unless the head 
of the agency administering the applicable Federal loan program 
submit to the Director a certification that--
(A) provides that the assessment of the fee will 
not materially impair borrower affordability, program 
access, or the statutory objectives of the Federal loan 
program;
(B) includes an analysis of borrower impact; and
(C) shall be made available to the Administrator 
and on the Platform.
(c) Fund.--All remittance fees collected under this section shall 
be held in a dedicated fund and shall be used exclusively for the 
operations of, and maintenance activities related to, the Platform, 
which funds--
(1) may be transferred by the Provider to customer 
agencies, with the approval of the Administrator, to support 
necessary migration, operations, and maintenance activities; 
and
(2) shall remain available until expended.
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