This Act may be cited as the “Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2019”.

(a) References.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act there is a reference to, or an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).

(b) General effective date.—Except as otherwise provided in this Act or the amendments made by this Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall be effective with respect to determinations of need under part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.) for the award year beginning July 1, 2020.

Section 483(a) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(a) Conforming amendments.—The Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended—

(1) by striking “an expected family contribution” each place the term appears and inserting “a student aid index”;

(2) by striking “expected family contributions” each place the term appears and inserting “student aid indexes”;

(3) by striking “expected family contribution” each place the term appears and inserting “student aid index”;

(4) in section 474—

(A) in the section heading, by striking “expected family contribution” and inserting “student aid index”; and

(B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by striking “expected family contribution” and inserting “student aid index”;

(5) in section 475—

(A) in the section heading, by striking “Family contribution” and inserting “Student aid index”; and

(B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by striking “expected family contribution” and inserting “student aid index”;

(6) in section 476—

(A) in the section heading, by striking “Family contribution” and inserting “Student aid index”; and

(B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by striking “expected family contribution” and inserting “student aid index”;

(7) in section 477—

(A) in the section heading, by striking “Family contribution” and inserting “Student aid index”; and

(B) in subsection (a), in the heading, by striking “expected family contribution” and inserting “student aid index”;

(8) by striking “family contribution” each place the term appears and inserting “student aid index”; and

(9) by striking “family contributions” each place the term appears and inserting “student aid indexes”.

(b) Calculation of negative student aid index.—The Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in section 475—

(A) in subsection (b), by striking “requested;” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “requested.”; and

(B) in subsection (g)(1), by striking “paragraph (5);” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “paragraph (5).”;

(2) in section 476(a), by striking “enrollment;” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “enrollment.”;

(3) in section 477(a), by striking “enrollment;” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “enrollment.”; and

(4) in section 479(a)(2)(B), by inserting “whose student aid index would otherwise be a positive number using only the elements of the simplified needs test under subsection (b)(2),” after “requirements of subsection (c),”.

(c) Negative student aid index.—Section 471 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk) is amended to read as follows:

(a) Student aid index.—Section 473 (20 U.S.C. 1087mm) is amended—

(1) in the section heading, by striking “Family contribution” and inserting “Student aid index”; and

(2) in subsection (b)—

(A) by striking the subsection heading and inserting “Student Aid Index equal to or less than zero”;

(B) in paragraph (1), by adding “or (3)” after “paragraph (2)”;

(C) in paragraph (2)—

(i) by striking the paragraph heading and inserting “Children of certain deceased veterans”;

(ii) in each of subparagraphs (B) and (C), by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), respectively and adjusting the margins accordingly;

(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively; and

(iv) by striking “Paragraph (1) shall” and inserting the following:

“(A) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall”;

(D) in paragraph (3)—

(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking “subparagraphs (A), (B)(i), and (C) of paragraph (2)” and inserting “clause (i), (ii)(I), and (iii) of subparagraph (A)”; and

(ii) in subparagraph (B)—

(I) by striking “subparagraphs (A), (B)(ii), and (C) of paragraph (2)” and inserting “clause (i), (ii)(II), and (iii) of subparagraph (A)”;

(II) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iii) as subclauses (I) through (III), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; and

(III) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;

(E) by redesignating paragraph (3) as subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2), and adjusting the margins accordingly;

(F) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and

(G) by inserting after paragraph (2)(B), as redesignated by subparagraph (E), the following:

“(3) RECIPIENTS OF CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall apply to a student if—

“(i) that student is a dependent student whose parent participated in a means-tested benefits program at any time during the period encompassed from the beginning of the second prior calendar year through the date of filing; or

“(ii) that student is independent and the student or spouse of that student participated in a means-tested benefits program at any time during the period encompassed from the beginning of the second prior calendar year through the date of filing.

“(B) MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS PROGRAM.—In this paragraph, the term ‘means-tested Federal benefits program’ means—

“(i) the supplemental security income program under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.);

“(ii) the supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);

“(iii) the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.);

“(iv) the free and reduced price school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.);

“(v) a State program funded under the temporary assistance for needy families program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);

“(vi) the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); and

“(vii) any other program determined by the Secretary to be appropriate based on—

“(I) the reliability under which the need for benefits from the program is established; and

“(II) the feasibility of data linkages.

“(4) DETERMINATION FOR STATE AND INSTITUTIONAL AID.—For each student whose student aid index is deemed to be zero under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall also calculate the student aid index for the student, using the simplified version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form in accordance with section 479, to identify students who have a negative student aid index and may be eligible for additional State or institutional aid.”.

(b) Simplified needs test.—Section 479 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read as follows:

(a) FAFSA simplification.—Section 483(f) (20 U.S.C. 1090(f)) is amended to read as follows:

“(f) Reduction of income and asset information To determine eligibility for student financial aid.—

“(1) USE OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE DATA TO POPULATE FAFSA.—The Secretary shall—

“(A) make every effort to make available and allow applicants to utilize the data that is available to the Secretary pursuant to section 6103(l)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the amount of original data entry by applicants and strengthen the reliability of data used to calculate a student aid index to—

“(i) allow an applicant to automatically populate the electronic version of the forms under this section with data available from the Internal Revenue Service;

“(ii) direct an applicant to appropriate questions on such forms based on the applicant’s answers to previous questions;

“(iii) identify the type of form filed and whether certain forms or schedules, as identified by the Secretary, were filed with Federal form 1040;

“(iv) transfer all applicable schedule information; and

“(v) allow an applicant to verify that the applicant or the family of the applicant did not file a Federal tax return without additional action on the part of the student; and

“(B) allow single taxpayers, married taxpayers filing jointly, and married taxpayers filing separately to utilize such data retrieval tool to its full capacity.

“(2) STRENGTHENING THE IRS DATA.—The Secretary shall work with the Secretary of the Treasury to expand the capabilities of transferring relevant Internal Revenue Service data by—

“(A) incorporating all fields from Federal tax returns and W–2 forms relevant to need analysis; and

“(B) incorporating line items from forms and schedules identified by the Secretary.

“(3) CROSS AGENCY LINKAGES.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination with the head of each agency that administers a specified means-tested Federal benefits program (as defined in section 473(b)(3)), shall examine how the agency can verify an applicant or an applicant’s family’s receipt of specified means-tested Federal benefits in order to compute a student aid index for low-income students in order to simplify, for students, the application process for student financial assistance.

“(B) CONNECTION TO OTHER MEANS TESTED BENEFITS.—The Secretary shall enter into data sharing agreements, as necessary, to enable the sharing of FAFSA data for the purpose of conducting outreach regarding, and connecting students to, State or Federal means-tested benefits programs (including means-tested Federal benefits programs as defined in section 473(b)(3)) for which the students may be eligible and for which, if eligible, could reduce the applicant's need to borrow or work during college.

“(C) AUTOMATIC MAXIMUM FEDERAL PELL GRANT.—The Secretary shall ensure that a student who is described in section 473(b)(3) or whose income or family income is less than $36,000 at any point during the 24-month period preceding the date of the determination, is a full-time student, and submits a form under this section, shall receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant and a determination of a student aid index of equal to or less than zero without additional action on the part of the student or the family of the student.

“(D) PART-TIME STUDENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure that a part-time student who is described in section 473(b)(3) and submits a form under this section shall receive a determination of a student aid index of equal to or less than zero.

“(4) PROHIBITION AGAINST REQUESTING INFORMATION MORE THAN ONCE.—Any information requested during the process of creating an account for completing the web-based free application under this subsection, shall not be required a second time for the same award year, or in a duplicative manner, when completing such web-based free application.

“(5) CHANGE IN FAMILY SIZE.—The Secretary shall provide a process by which an applicant shall confirm the accuracy of family size or may update the family size with respect to such applicant for purposes of determining the need of such applicant for financial assistance under this title based on a change in family size from the tax year data used for such determination.

“(6) REPORT.—The Secretary shall report to Congress annually on the Department's progress in maintaining and expanding the Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool and in establishing cross agency linkages, as described in this subsection, and simultaneously make such reports publicly available.”.

(b) Mobile use.—Section 483(a)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(I) MOBILE DEVICE FORMAT.—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 a minimum, enable applicants to—

“(i) save data; and

“(ii) submit the electronic version of the forms under this paragraph to the Secretary through such tool.”.

(c) Languages for FAFSA.—Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(i) Languages for FAFSA.—The Secretary, in conjunction with the Director of the Census Bureau, shall determine the most common languages spoken at home in the United States and shall develop versions of the FAFSA form in each of those languages.”.

(d) Outreach by financial aid advisors.—Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090 et seq.), as amended by subsection (c), is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(j) Outreach by financial aid advisors.—An institution of higher education may use information provided on a FAFSA to reach out to and counsel a student on the student's eligibility for means-tested benefits in which the student is not enrolled and outside scholarships for which a student is eligible.”.

(a) Total income.—Section 480(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

“(1) IN GENERAL.—

“(A) DETERMINATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), the term ‘total income’ is equal to—

“(i) in the case of an individual who has not filed, and is not required to file, any Federal tax return or in the case of a qualified recipient of a means-tested Federal benefits program, as defined in section 473(b)(3)(B), earned income for the second preceding tax year minus excludable income (as defined in subsection (e)); and

“(ii) in the case of an individual who filed a Federal tax return or in the case of an individual who filed a foreign tax return in lieu of a Federal tax return, adjusted gross income from applicable schedule plus untaxed income and benefits for the second preceding fiscal tax year minus excludable income (as defined in subsection (e)).

“(B) USE OF DATA.—Notwithstanding section 478(a), the Secretary shall provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year when and to the extent necessary to carry out the simplification of applications (including simplification for a subset of applications) used for the estimation and determination of financial aid eligibility. Such simplification shall include the sharing of data between the Internal Revenue Service and the Department, pursuant to the consent of the taxpayer.”.

(b) Conforming amendment.—Section 480(a) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)) is amended—

(1) by moving paragraph (2) two ems to the right; and

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking “No portion” and inserting the following: “Amounts not included.—No portion”.

(c) Untaxed income and benefits.—Section 480(b) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(b)) is amended to read as follows:

“(b) Untaxed income and benefits.—The term ‘untaxed income and benefits’ means—

“(1) the aggregate amount of losses taken into account for determining adjusted gross income on Federal form 1040 and applicable schedules;

“(2) the amount of any tax-exempt interest income reported on Federal form 1040; and

“(3) amounts of foreign income excluded from adjusted gross income and reported on Federal form 2555.”.

(d) Excludable income.—Section 480(e) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(e)) is amended to read as follows:

“(e) The term ‘excludable income’ means—

“(1) any student financial assistance awarded based on need as determined in accordance with the provisions of this part, including any income earned from work under part C of this title; and

“(2) payments made and services provided under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) to or on behalf of any child or youth over whom the State agency has responsibility for placement, care, or supervision, including the value of vouchers for education and training and amounts expended for room and board for youth who are not in foster care but are receiving services under section 477 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677).”.

(e) Assets.—Section 480(f)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(f)(1)) is amended by striking “The term” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following:

“(A) In determining the value of assets in a determination of need under this title in the case of an individual who has not filed, and is not required to file, any Federal tax return or in the case of a qualified recipient of a means-tested Federal benefits program, as defined in section 473(b)(3)(B), the individual's assets shall be considered to be equal to zero.

“(B) In the case of an individual who filed a form 1040 with forms or schedules, the term assets means amounts held in money market savings accounts or funds, capital gains, prize or award money, gambling winnings, time deposits, trusts, stocks, bonds, other securities, mutual funds, tax shelters, business income, rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, qualified education benefits (except as provided in paragraph (3)), and the net value of real estate, income producing property, and business and farm assets, excluding the primary home.”.

(f) Special combat pay.—Section 480 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv) is amended—

(1) in subsection (j), by striking paragraph (4); and

(2) by striking subsection (n).

Section 483(a) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)), as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

(a) Student eligibility.—Subsection (n) of section 484 (20 U.S.C. 1091) is repealed.

(b) Repeal of ineligibility for certain assistance for failure To register with system.—Section 12 of the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 3811) is amended—

(1) by striking subsection (f); and

(2) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (f).

(a) Repeal.—Subsection (r) of section 484 (20 U.S.C. 1091(r)) is repealed.

(b) Conforming amendments.—The Act is amended—

(1) in section 428(b)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(3))—

(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking “485(l)” and inserting “485(k)”; and

(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking “485(l)” and inserting “485(k)”;

(2) in section 435(d)(5) (20 U.S.C. 1085(d)(5))—

(A) in subparagraph (E), by striking “485(l)” and inserting “485(k)”; and

(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking “485(l)” and inserting “485(k)”;

(3) in section 485 (20 U.S.C. 1092)—

(A) by striking subsection (k); and

(B) by redesignating subsections (l) and (m) as subsections (k) and (l), respectively; and

(4) in section 487(e)(2)(B)(ii)(IV) (20 U.S.C. 1094(e)(2)(B)(ii)(IV)), by striking “(l) of section 485” and inserting “(k) of section 485”.

(a) Independent student.—Section 480(d)(1)(H) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)(1)(H)) is amended—

(1) in the matter preceding clause (i)—

(A) by striking “during the school year in which the application is submitted”;

(B) by inserting “age 23 or younger” after “unaccompanied youth”; and

(C) by striking “terms are” and inserting “term is”;

(2) in clause (i), by inserting “, or a designee of the liaison” after “Act”;

(3) in clause (ii), by striking “a program funded under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act” and inserting “an emergency or transitional shelter, street outreach program, homeless youth drop-in center, or other program serving homeless youth,”; and

(4) in clause (iii), by striking “program funded under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (relating to emergency shelter grants)” and inserting “Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate program under chapter 1 or 2 of subpart 2 of part A,”.

(b) Foster care children and youth.—Section 103 (20 U.S.C. 1003) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (24) as paragraphs (11) through (25), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:

“(10) FOSTER CARE CHILDREN AND YOUTH.—The term ‘foster care children and youth’—

“(A) means children and youth whose care and placement are the responsibility of the State or Tribal agency that administers a State or Tribal plan under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. and 670 et seq.), without regard to whether foster care maintenance payments are made under section 472 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672) on behalf of such children and youth; and

“(B) includes individuals who were age 13 or older when their care and placement were the responsibility of a State or Tribal agency that administered a State or Tribal plan under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. and 670 et seq.) and who are no longer under the care and responsibility of such a State or Tribal agency, without regard to any such individual’s subsequent adoption, guardianship arrangement, or other form of permanency outcome.”.

(c) Streamlining determinations and verification.—Section 480(d) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(3) SIMPLIFYING THE DETERMINATION PROCESS FOR UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—

“(A) VERIFICATION.—A financial aid administrator shall accept a determination of independence made by any individual authorized to make such determinations under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(H) in the absence of conflicting information. A documented phone call with, or a written statement from, one of the authorized individuals is sufficient verification when needed. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial aid administrator's disagreement with the determination made by an authorized individual shall not be considered conflicting information.

“(B) DETERMINATION OF INDEPENDENCE.—A financial aid administrator shall make a determination of independence under paragraph (1)(H) if a student does not have, and cannot get, documentation from any of the other designated authorities described in such paragraph. Such a determination shall be—

“(i) based on the definitions outlined in paragraph (1)(H);

“(ii) distinct from a determination of independence under paragraph (1)(I);

“(iii) based on a documented interview with the student; and

“(iv) limited to whether the student meets the definitions in paragraph (1)(H) and not about the reasons for the student's homelessness.

“(C) ADDITIONAL STREAMLINING PERMITTED.—Nothing in this paragraph prohibits an institution from implementing polices that—

“(i) streamline the determination of independence under paragraph (1)(H); and

“(ii) improve a student’s access to financial aid because that student is an unaccompanied youth.

“(4) SIMPLIFYING THE VERIFICATION PROCESS FOR FOSTER CARE YOUTH.—

“(A) VERIFICATION OF INDEPENDENCE.—If an institution requires documentation to verify that a student is independent based on a status described in paragraph (1)(B), a financial aid administrator shall consider any of the following as adequate verification:

“(i) Submission of a court order or official State documentation that the student received Federal or State support in foster care.

“(ii) A documented phone call with, written statement from, or verifiable electronic data match with—

“(I) a child welfare agency authorized by a State or county;

“(II) a Tribal child welfare authority;

“(III) an independent living case worker;

“(IV) a public or private foster care placing agency or foster care facility or placement;

“(V) another program serving orphans, foster care youth, or wards of the court; or

“(VI) a probation officer.

“(iii) A documented phone call with, or a written statement from, an attorney, a guardian ad litem, or a court appointed special advocate, documenting that person's relationship to the student.

“(iv) A documented phone call with, or a written statement from, a representative of a Federal TRIO program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program under chapter 1 or 2 of subpart 2 of part A.

“(v) Verification of the student’s eligibility for an education and training voucher under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program under section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677).

“(vi) Submission of a copy of the student's biological or adoptive parents’ or legal guardians'—

“(I) certificates of death; or

“(II) verifiable obituaries.

“(vii) An attestation from the student, which includes a description of why the student may qualify for a status described in paragraph (1)(B), including the approximate dates that the student was an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of the court, to the best of the student’s knowledge after making reasonable efforts to provide any requested documentation.

“(B) ADDITIONAL STREAMLINING PERMITTED.—Nothing in this paragraph prohibits an institution from implementing polices that streamline the determination of independent status and improve a student's access to financial aid because that student is an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of the court, or was an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of the court at any time when the student was 13 years of age or older.

“(5) TIMING; USE OF EARLIER DETERMINATION.—

“(A) TIMING.—A determination under subparagraph (B) or (H) of paragraph (1) for a student—

“(i) shall be made as quickly as practicable;

“(ii) may be made as early as the year before the award year for which the student initially submits an application; and

“(iii) shall be made no later than during the award year for which the student initially submits an application.

“(B) USE OF EARLIER DETERMINATION.—Any student who is determined to be independent under subparagraph (B) or (H) of paragraph (1) for a preceding award year at an institution shall be presumed to be independent for each subsequent award year at the same institution unless—

“(i) the student informs the institution that circumstances have changed; or

“(ii) the institution has specific conflicting information about the student’s independence, and has informed the student of this information and the opportunity to challenge such information through a documented interview or an impartial review by the Student Loan Ombudsman pursuant to section 141(f)(3).

“(6) RETENTION OF DOCUMENTS.—A financial aid administrator shall retain all documents related to the determination of independence under subparagraph (B) or (H) of paragraph (1), including documented interviews, for the duration of the student’s enrollment at the institution and for a minimum of 1 year after the student is no longer enrolled at the institution.”.

(d) Consolidating questions regarding homeless status on the FAFSA.—Section 483(a)(4) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(C) SINGLE QUESTION REGARDING HOMELESS STATUS.—The Secretary shall ensure that, on each form developed under this section for which the information is applicable, there is a single, easily understood screening question to identify an applicant for aid who is—

“(i) an unaccompanied homeless child or youth (as such term is defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act); or

“(ii) an unaccompanied youth who is self-supporting and at risk of homelessness.”.

(e) Data transparency on the number of financial aid applicants.—Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090), as amended by section 6, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(k) Data transparency on the number of applicants.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually publish data on the number of individuals who apply for Federal student aid pursuant to this section who are homeless individuals described in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a), including unaccompanied youth, and foster care youth.

“(2) CONTENTS.—The data described in paragraph (1) with respect to homeless individuals shall include, at a minimum, for each application cycle—

“(A) the total number of all applicants who were determined to be (or to be at risk of becoming) unaccompanied homeless youth, under section 480(d)(1)(H);

“(B) the number of applicants described in subparagraph (A), disaggregated—

“(i) by State; and

“(ii) by the sources of determination as described in clauses (i) through (iv) of section 480(d)(1)(H); and

“(C) the number of undetermined requests for homelessness consideration, including statuses that remain unknown because no determination had been made in response the applicant's request for the institution to consider the applicant's special circumstance of being homeless.”.

Section 484 (20 U.S.C. 1091), as amended by sections 9 and 10, is further amended—

Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090), as amended by section 11, is further amended—

(a) Amendments to the internal revenue code of 1986.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (13) of section 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:

“(13) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION TO CARRY OUT THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—

“(A) INCOME-CONTINGENT OR INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT AND TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY DISCHARGE.—The Secretary shall, upon written request from the Secretary of Education, disclose to officers, employees, and contractors of the Department of Education, as specifically authorized and designated by the Secretary of Education, only for the purpose of (and to the extent necessary in) establishing, renewing, administering, and conducting analyses and forecasts for estimating costs related to income contingent or income-based repayment programs, and the discharge of loans based on a total and permanent disability (within the meaning of section 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965), under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the following return information (as defined in subsection (b)(2)) with respect to taxpayers identified by the Secretary of Education as participating in the loan programs under title IV of such Act, for taxable years specified by such Secretary:

“(i) Taxpayer identity information with respect to such taxpayer.

“(ii) The filing status of such taxpayer.

“(iii) Type of tax return from which the return information is provided.

“(iv) The adjusted gross income of such taxpayer.

“(v) Total number of exemptions claimed, or total number of individuals and dependents claimed, as applicable, on the return.

“(vi) Number of children with respect to which tax credits under section 24 are claimed on the return.

“(vii) Other information determined to be necessary by agreement between the Secretary and the Secretary of Education to administer the Federal financial aid programs as required by the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“(B) FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AID.—The Secretary shall, upon written request from the Secretary of Education, disclose to officers, employees, and contractors of the Department of Education, as specifically authorized and designated by the Secretary of Education, only for the purpose of (and to the extent necessary in) determining eligibility for, and amount of, Federal student financial aid under programs authorized by title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and conducting analyses and forecasts for estimating costs related to such programs, the following return information (as defined in subsection (b)(2)) with respect to taxpayers identified by the Secretary of Education as applicants for Federal student financial aid under title IV of such Act, for taxable years specified by such Secretary:

“(i) Taxpayer identity information with respect to such taxpayer.

“(ii) The filing status of such taxpayer.

“(iii) Type of tax return from which the return information is provided.

“(iv) The adjusted gross income of such taxpayer.

“(v) The amount of any net earnings from self-employment (as defined in section 1402), wages (as defined in section 3121(a) or 3401(a)), business income, investment income, and taxable income from a farming business (as defined in section 236A(e)(4)) for the period reported on the return.

“(vi) The total income tax of such taxpayer.

“(vii) Total number of exemptions claimed, or total number of individuals and dependents claimed, as applicable, on the return.

“(viii) Number of children with respect to which tax credits under section 24 are claimed on the return.

“(ix) Amount of any credit claimed under section 25A for the taxable year.

“(x) Amount of individual retirement account distributions not included in adjusted gross income for the taxable year.

“(xi) Amount of individual retirement account contributions and payments to self-employed SEP, Keogh, and other qualified plans which were deducted from income for the taxable year.

“(xii) The amount of tax-exempt interest.

“(xiii) Amounts from retirement pensions and annuities not included in adjusted gross income for the taxable year.

“(xiv) If applicable, the fact that there is no return filed for such taxpayer for the applicable year.

“(xv) Other information determined to be necessary by agreement between the Secretary and the Secretary of Education to administer the Federal financial aid programs as required by the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“(C) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED INFORMATION.—

“(i) IN GENERAL.—Return information disclosed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) may be used by officers, employees, and contractors of the Department of Education, as specifically authorized and designated by the Secretary of Education, only for the purposes and to the extent necessary described in such subparagraphs and for mitigating risks (as defined in clause (ii)) relating to the programs described in such subparagraphs.

“(ii) MITIGATING RISKS.—For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘mitigating risks’ means, with respect to the programs described in subparagraphs (A) and (B)—

“(I) analyzing or estimating costs associated with potential changes to the need-analysis formula;

“(II) oversight activities by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Education as authorized by the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended;

“(III) developing or administering statistical models that inform support to populations of Federal student loan borrowers who are at risk of default or delinquency;

“(IV) reducing the net cost of improper payments to Federal financial aid recipients; and

“(V) producing aggregate statistics for reporting, research, or consumer information on the performance of programs or institutions of higher education participating in the programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Such term does not include the conduct of criminal investigations or prosecutions.

“(iii) REDISCLOSURE TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, STATE HIGHER EDUCATION AGENCIES, AND DESIGNATED SCHOLARSHIP ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary of Education, and officers, employees, and contractors of the Department of Education, may disclose return information received under subparagraph (B), solely for the use in the application, award, and administration of Federal student financial aid, State aid, or aid awarded by eligible institutions or such entities as the Secretary of Education may designate, to the following persons:

“(I) An institution of higher education with which the Secretary of Education has an agreement under subpart 1 of part A, or part D or E, of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“(II) A State higher education agency.

“(III) A scholarship organization which is designated by the Secretary of Education as of the date of the enactment of the Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2019 as an organization eligible to receive the information provided under this clause.

The preceding sentence shall only apply to the extent that the taxpayer with respect to whom the return information relates provides consent for such disclosure to the Secretary of Education as part of the application for Federal student financial aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“(D) REQUIRED NOTIFICATION PERIODS.—

“(i) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary and the Secretary of Education shall issue joint notifications to the Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor of the House of Representatives not less than 120 days prior to the first disclosure of any type of return information under subparagraph (A)(vii) or (B)(xv) with respect to which such a notification has not been previously made.

“(ii) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—There shall be a public notice and comment period beginning not less than 60 days prior to the first disclosure of any type of return information under subparagraph (A)(vii) or (B)(xv) with respect to which such a notification has not been previously made, subsequent to the period allotted for congressional comment under clause (i).”.

(2) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RETURN INFORMATION.—Section 6103(a)(3) of such Code is amended by inserting “, (13)(A), (13)(B)” after “(12)”.

(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 6103(p)(4) of such Code is amended—

(A) by inserting “(A), (13)(B)” after “(13)” each place it occurs; and

(B) by inserting “, (13)(A), (13)(B)” after “(l)(10)” each place it occurs.

(b) Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to disclosures made under section 6103(l)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by this section) after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(a) In general.—Part G of title IV (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(b) Conforming amendments related to student eligibility.—Section 484, as amended by sections 9, 10, and 12, is further amended—

(1) by striking subsection (q);

(2) by redesignating subsections (o), (p), (s), and (t) as subsections (n), (o), (p), and (q), respectively; and

(3) by transferring subsections (p) and (q), as redesignated by paragraph (2), so as to precede subsection (r) (as added by section 12(b)).

Subpart 1 of part A of title IV (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: