Protecting Taxpayers from Student Loan Bailouts Act

This bill would curb the Department of Education’s ability to propose or finalize regulations and executive actions related to Title IV of the Higher Education Act. It adds a new section (Sec. 492A) that requires the Secretary of Education to conduct extra analyses on draft regulations and to halt any regulation or executive action that is economically significant if it would increase the government’s subsidy costs. In short, if a proposed regulatory change would raise the government's costs tied to student loan subsidies, the bill would prohibit moving forward. The standard for “economically significant” regulations is a substantial annual economic impact (at least $100 million) or a materially adverse impact on the economy, a sector, jobs, or other public interests. The intent is to limit new federal regulations that could be costly to taxpayers in the context of student loan programs, adding to existing cost analyses required by law and executive orders. The effect would be to slow or block certain policies or actions aimed at changing how federal student loan programs operate if they are projected to increase subsidy costs.