[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5528 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5528
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 12, 2016
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify the FAFSA, 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 ``Simplifying the Application for
Student Aid Act''.
SEC. 2. USING DATA FROM SECOND PRECEDING YEAR.
Section 480(a)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1087vv(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``may'' in both places it
appears and inserting ``shall''.
SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT PERCENTAGE FOR FEDERAL PELL
GRANTS.
Section 401(b)(7)(C)(iv)(I) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(C)(iv)(I)) is amended by striking ``calendar year''
and inserting ``fiscal year''.
SEC. 4. FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION.
(a) FAFSA Simplification.--Section 483 of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by adding at the end the
following:
``(I) Format.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of the Simplifying the
Application for Student Aid Act, the Secretary shall
make the electronic version of the forms under this
paragraph available through a technology tool that can
be used on mobile devices. Such technology tool shall,
at minimum, enable applicants to--
``(i) save data; and
``(ii) submit their FAFSA to the Secretary
through such tool.
``(J) Consumer testing.--In developing and
maintaining the electronic version of the forms under
this paragraph and the technology tool for mobile
devices under subparagraph (I), the Secretary shall
conduct consumer testing with appropriate persons to
ensure the forms and technology tool are designed to be
easily usable and understandable by students and
families. Such consumer testing shall include--
``(i) current and prospective college
students, family members of such students, and
other individuals with expertise in student
financial assistance application processes;
``(ii) dependent students and independent
students meeting the requirements under
subsection (b) or (c) of section 479; and
``(iii) dependent students and independent
students who do not meet the requirements under
subsection (b) or (c) of section 479.''; and
(2) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:
``(f) Use of Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool To
Populate FAFSA.--
``(1) Simplification efforts.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) make every effort to allow applicants to
utilize the current data retrieval tool to transfer
data available from the Internal Revenue Service to
reduce the amount of original data entry by applicants
and strengthen the reliability of data used to
calculate expected family contributions, including
through the use of technology to--
``(i) allow an applicant to automatically
populate the electronic version of the forms
under this paragraph with data available from
the Internal Revenue Service; and
``(ii) direct an applicant to appropriate
questions on such forms based on the
applicant's answers to previous questions; and
``(B) allow single taxpayers, married taxpayers
filing jointly, and married taxpayers filing separately
to utilize the current data retrieval tool to its full
capacity.
``(2) Use of tax return in application process.--The
Secretary shall continue to examine whether data provided by
the Internal Revenue Service can be used to generate an
expected family contribution without additional action on the
part of the student and taxpayer.
``(3) Reports on fafsa simplification efforts.--Not less
than once every other year, the Secretary shall report to the
authorizing committees on the progress of the simplification
efforts under this subsection.
``(4) Reports on fafsa access.--Not less than once every 10
years, the Secretary shall report to the authorizing committees
on the needs of limited English proficient students using the
FAFSA.''.
(b) Funding.--
(1) Use of existing funds.--Of the amount authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of Education to maintain the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid, $3,000,000 shall be
available to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this
Act.
(2) No additional funds authorized.--No funds are
authorized by this Act to be appropriated to carry out this Act
or the amendments made by this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2016.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.