Sponsor
Ayanna Pressley
Representative · D-MA
Representative · D-MA
The bill protects borrowers from improper and prolonged wage garnishments and increases transparency, but it raises privacy and security risks, may shift collection costs to taxpayers and employers, and creates administrative and legal burdens for the Department and employers.
Borrowers (especially students, young adults, and middle-class families) will have wage garnishment suspended until required safeguards are certified, effectively pausing most garnishments for at least one year and preventing immediate income loss.
Borrowers who were improperly garnished (notably low-income students and young adults) will receive double the amount wrongfully withheld within 10 days after the Secretary receives the funds, providing rapid financial relief and deterrence against future improper withholdings.
Borrowers with very old loans (outstanding more than 10 years) will be protected from future wage garnishment, reducing ongoing income loss for long-delinquent borrowers.
Borrowers (students and young adults) face increased privacy and data‑security risks because a centralized database will store detailed personal and employment information.
Taxpayers and loan holders could bear higher costs because suspending garnishment will delay collections and may increase unpaid balances or administrative costs.
Employers (including small-business owners) may face new legal and financial risks and higher compliance costs because they can be held liable for amounts improperly withheld after notice.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Suspends federal administrative wage garnishment for student loans until safeguards are certified (not sooner than 1 year) and limits garnishment for loans older than 10 years.
Official title: To suspend and reform the authority under the Higher Education Act of 1965 for the Secretary of Education to carry out an administrative wage garnishment program.
Introduced May 14, 2025 by Ayanna Pressley · Last progress May 14, 2025
Suspends federal administrative wage garnishment for most student loan borrowers immediately upon enactment and sets conditions for when garnishment can resume. The Department of Education cannot resume garnishment until at least one year after enactment and only after the Secretary certifies implementation of a set of consumer protections and operational steps — or certifies that garnishment cannot be implemented and will therefore not be used. If the Secretary does certify, the Department must create a centralized garnishment database, report regularly to relevant congressional committees, provide prompt refunds and enhanced remedies for improperly garnished wages (including double-payments), limit garnishment for loans outstanding more than 10 years, and impose employer verification and liability requirements for improper withholdings.