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HR 5914 IH

To clarify the authority of the Federal Financing Bank to purchase loans guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.

April 29, 2008

Mr. KANJORSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

To clarify the authority of the Federal Financing Bank to purchase loans guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 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 `Student Loan Access Act of 2008'.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL FINANCING BANK AUTHORITY.

(a) Clarification of Federal Financing Bank Authority- Notwithstanding any other law and subject to subsection (b), the Federal Financing Bank may, in accordance with such terms and conditions as the Federal Financing Bank may impose--

(1) purchase, pursuant to its authority under section 6(a) of the Federal Financing Bank Act of 1973, guaranteed loans originated under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, or participation interests in such loans;

(2) provide advances to eligible lenders, as defined in section 435 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, for purposes of originating or purchasing loans under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and

(3) invest in securities collateralized with student loans originated under part B of the title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

(b) No Net Cost- Purchases under this section shall not result in any net cost to the Federal Government, as determined jointly by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(c) Relation to Other Laws- Section 504(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 661c(b)) shall not apply to a loan (or participation interests therein) purchased pursuant to (a).

(d) Sunset-

(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), subsection (c) shall expire on July 1, 2009.

(2) EXTENSION- If the Secretary of Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of Education determines that economic circumstances necessitate extending the authority provided under subsection (c) in order to continue to ensure timely, uninterrupted access to student loans, the Secretary may extend the sunset provision under paragraph (1). The Secretary may make multiple extensions under this paragraph, except that each such extension may not be for a period of more than 12 months.