After weeks of consideration, the United States Government says it will begin the process of reviewing and overhauling regulations governing Federal student loan relief programs, including the controversial Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
The Administration of President Joe Biden (pictured) has instructed the Department of Education to review and possibly dramatically change complex Federal regulations that govern the programs.
While the review covers a number of programs, it is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) which has caused the most angst in recent years.
The program forgives the Federal student loan debt of borrowers who make repayments while working for at least 10 years in qualifying Public Service employment, with its first members becoming eligible in 2017.
However, the PSLF has been plagued by complicated eligibility criteria and ongoing administrative problems that resulted in a dismal approval rate of around two per cent of those who applied.
The latest regulatory review process won’t be fast, however. The first step involves public hearings, which are set to begin in June.
After that, there is to be a series of sessions called ‘negotiated rule-making’ where various stakeholders gather for a series of meetings with Department officials to draft and review proposed new regulations and program changes.
It could be a year or longer before regulations are finalised and implemented.
Meanwhile, a Bill that would finally put to bed any future moves to assign Federal workers to newly created ‘excepted’ service schedules has been approved by the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee.
The Preventing a Patronage System Act states that no Federal position in the competitive service may be excepted from that service unless it is placed in existing Schedules A through E.
The legislation responds to an Executive Order issued by former President, Donald Trump last October that created a new excepted service, Schedule F, for Federal employees deemed to be in policy-making positions.
Employees classified under Schedule F would have been easier to hire and fire.
The Executive Order was cancelled by Mr Biden soon after he took office in January.
Washington, 29 May 2021
