PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 23, 2020
Student Debt Emergency Relief Act
This bill establishes and provides funds for federal student loan repayment assistance programs during a national emergency, including the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus (i.e., the virus that causes COVID-19).
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to make monthly payments for borrowers of Federal Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans, and Perkins Loans during a national emergency. ED must also pay any interest on such loans during the emergency.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Additionally, ED must
deem each month for which ED made a payment on behalf of the borrower as a qualifying payment for the purpose of certain loan forgiveness programs or loan rehabilitation programs;
ensure that any payment on such a loan is treated as a regularly scheduled payment made by a borrower for the purpose of reporting information about the loan to a consumer reporting agency;
notify borrowers, within 15 days and monthly thereafter, of the benefits provided by ED during the national emergency; and
suspend all involuntary collections related to such loans, including wage garnishments, reductions of tax refunds, and reductions of certain federal benefit payments, such as Social Security.
ED must (1) make monthly payments until authorized by Congress to terminate the program, (2) carry out a 90-day transition period, and (3) apply a minimum amount of payments to loans for each borrower.
Payments made by ED as a result of a national emergency shall be excluded from the taxpayer's gross income.
Interest shall not be capitalized during or after the national emergency.
People & committees
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7] · D–MA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jul 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.6363 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.6363 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.6363 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.6363 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.