,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #cihj ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,march #d1 #bjbf,mrs4 ,blackburn 7for herself and ,ms4 ,hassan7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to authorize the creation of ,lending4gov as a shared services platform to provide a single source of access to loans provided by ,federal agencies1 and modern technology to support effective management of ,federal credit programs1 in order to reduce costs1 prevent fraud1 increase the speed of origination1 improve transparency1 improve access and customer experience1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,federal ,loan ,systems ,modernization ,act of #bjbf4 #b4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,administrator2 ,administration ,the terms ,administrator and ,administration mean the ,administrator of ,general ,services and the ,general ,services ,administration1 respectively4 7#b7 ,agency ,the term agency has the meaning given the term in section #eea of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#c7 ,appropriate congressional committees ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs of the ,senate2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform of the ,house of ,representatives4 7#d7 ,customer agency ,the term customer agency means an agency participating in the ,platform4 7#e7 ,director ,the term ,director means the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget4 7#f7 ,federal loan program ,the term ,federal loan program means any direct or guaranteed ,federal loan or credit program administered by an agency4 7#g7 ,loan management ,the term loan management means a collection of credit program loan and loan guarantee administrative activities1 such as application intake and process1 underwriting1 servicing1 close-out1 information exchange1 document creation1 reporting1 and fraud detection1 that-- 7,a7 are executed at the various phases of the ,federal lending process2 7,b7 are core to effective program delivery1 financial management1 and customer experience2 7,c7 are subject to modernization2 and 7,d7 do not entail any change of authority of the agency overseeing the function of a ,federal loan program4 7#h7 ,loan management technology ,the term loan management technology means commercial use software adapted to meet ,federal loan program requirements to streamline the execution of administrative activities relating to ,federal loan management4 7#i7 ,platform ,the term ,platform means a centralized shared services lending platform established under section #d7;a71 which includes an electronic portal for ,federal direct lending applications1 which shall be known as ,lending4gov4 7#aj7 ,provider ,the term ,provider means a shared service provider of the ,platform4 #c4 ,purpose ,the purposes of this ,act are to-- 7#a7 address the inefficiencies caused by using outdated and fragmented technology to manage multiple ,federal lending processes and ,federal lending programs across agencies and mitigate consumer difficulties accessing ,federal loan programs by incorporating commercially available technology to improve program effectiveness across all agencies through a dedicated loan application platform2 7#b7 authorize the creation of a centralized loan platform1 to be known as ,lending4gov1 utilizing industry-standard1 commercially available loan processing software to streamline access to1 and the administrative activities of1 ,federal loan programs in accordance with section #ccjg of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#c7 establish ,government-wide requirements for loan management1 which will serve as the guiding criteria in the selection of commercially available technology to manage the ,platform2 and 7#d7 provide agencies with the responsibility and authority for establishing and maintaining oversight of the ,platform4 #d4 ,establishment of the ,lending4gov platform ,not later than #f months after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,administrator shall submit to the ,director and the appropriate congressional committees a plan to establish the ,platform utilizing commercially available loan management technology1 which shall include-- 7#a7 designation of a lead agency as the initial ,provider and operational host of the ,platform2 7#b7 a review of ,federal loan programs subject to integration into the ,platform1 in coordination with the ,federal ,credit ,policy ,council1 including the agency that is the designated authority for each such ,federal loan program2 7#c7 common deficiencies and areas of wasteful spending resulting from the use of outdated systems1 including the findings of reports from various inspectors general of agencies and reports from the ,government ,accountability ,office1 among agencies that can be addressed through the creation of the ,platform utilizing modern loan management technology2 7#d7 the proposed operational framework of the ,platform2 7#e7 a plan to integrate commercial loan management technology to assist with standing-up and operating the ,platform at the best value to the ,federal ,government1 in accordance with section #ccjg of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#f7 a timeline for implementation of the ,platform2 and 7#g7 an estimate of the costs of implementing the ,platform4 #e4 ,operations of the ,lending4gov platform 7a7 ,responsibilities of the ,provider ,the ,provider shall-- 7#a7 operate1 maintain1 and continuously improve the ,platform1 including all associated systems1 tools1 infrastructure1 and customer-facing services necessary to support ,federal loan programs2 7#b7 provide onboarding1 technical assistance1 and ongoing operational support to agencies migrating to1 or utilizing1 the ,platform2 7#c7 provide participating agencies loan servicing and portfolio management solutions encompassing both financial and non-financial elements necessary to support service levels1 cost benchmarking1 program oversight1 risk management1 and customer experience metrics for both agencies and borrowers2 7#d7 ensure that the ,platform complies with all applicable ,federal requirements relating to cybersecurity1 privacy1 information security1 data governance1 cloud authorization1 financial management1 and credit program management2 7#e7 integrate commercially available loan management technology appropriate for the efficient operation of ,federal loan programs1 including tools for application intake1 underwriting1 servicing1 reporting1 fraud detection1 and customer-experience management2 7#f7 enter into interagency agreements1 service-level agreements1 or other arrangements necessary to provide shared services to customer agencies and to recover costs as appropriate2 7#g7 include auditable financial management and subledger capabilities in the ,platform that support agency oversight1 reconciliation1 and documentation of borrower remediation2 7#h7 ensure that customer agencies retain ownership and full access to all program data generated or maintained through the ,platform2 and 7#i7 ensure the portability of customer agency data1 including the ability to export all records in standardized1 non-proprietary formats4 7b7 ,program manager satisfaction 7#a7 ,primary performance standard ,program manager satisfaction at customer agencies shall be a primary performance standard governing the operation of the ,platform4 7#b7 ,annual survey ,the ,provider shall1 not less frequently than annually1 conduct a standardized survey of relevant program managers and staff at each customer agency to assess satisfaction with the performance1 functionality1 service quality1 and reliability of the ,platform4 7#c7 ,publication of results ,the ,provider shall-- 7,a7 transmit survey results to the ,administrator and the ,director2 7,b7 provide such results to each customer agency2 and 7,c7 make survey results publicly available in a manner consistent with applicable law and protection of sensitive information4 7#d7 ,remediation plans ,if survey results indicate that satisfaction for any customer agency or functional area falls below thresholds established jointly by the ,provider and the ,administrator1 the ,provider shall-- 7,a7 develop a remediation plan to address identified deficiencies2 7,b7 submit the plan described in subparagraph 7,a7 to the customer agency and ,administrator not later than #fj days after survey results are finalized2 7,c7 implement the plan described in subparagraph 7,a7 promptly2 and 7,d7 report quarterly to the customer agency and ,administrator on progress in resolving deficiencies until satisfaction thresholds are met4 7#e7 ,consultation requirement ,in developing remediation plans under paragraph 7#d71 the ,provider shall consult directly with the program managers and senior officials of the affected customer agency4 7c7 ,customer agency access ,employees of the ,provider shall be provided with appropriate badges and system access by customer agencies to facilitate seamless service provision and communications with employees of the customer agency4 7d7 ,performance dashboards and reporting ,the ,provider shall establish1 maintain1 and make available to the ,administrator1 the ,director1 and customer agencies performance dashboards and regular reports on ,platform availability1 processing times1 service levels1 system performance1 and other operational metrics1 including metrics derived from subsection 7b74 7e7 ,coordination and oversight ,the ,provider shall carry out its responsibilities under this section in coordination with the ,administrator and the ,director and subject to oversight under section #g4 #f4 ,migration to ,platform 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #b years after the date on which the ,administrator submits the report required under section #d1 the ,director1 in consultation with the ,administrator and the ,provider and in collaboration with the heads of relevant agencies1 shall commence migration of other agency loan management systems to the ,platform1 as outlined in the report4 7b7 ,deadline ,not later than #c years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 each agency that administers a ,federal loan program shall complete migration of its loan management systems to the ,platform established under section #d1 unless granted an exception by the ,director under subsection 7c77#b74 7c7 ,migration criteria and exceptions 7#a7 ,criteria for migration ,the ,director shall1 in consultation with the ,administrator1 establish and publish criteria for determining which agencies shall migrate their loan management systems to the ,platform1 which shall include loan programs-- 7,a7 that originate or service more than #ej loans annually2 or 7,b7 with loan amounts of more than #aj1jjj1jjj in the aggregate4 7#b7 ,exceptions 7,a7 ,in general ,the ,director may grant an exception to the migration requirement under this section if the ,director-- 7i7 determines that migration would be impracticable or contrary to the interest of program efficiency2 and 7ii7 notifies the appropriate congressional committees not later than #cj days after making that determination4 7,b7 ,duration ,the ,director may grant an exception under subparagraph 7,a7 for a period of no longer than #c years4 7,c7 ,notification ,the ,director shall notify the ,administrator of any exception granted under this paragraph not later than #ae days after making such determination4 7,d7 ,plan ,any agency that is granted an exception under subparagraph 7,a7 shall1 not later than #b years of being granted an exception1 develop a plan for migration after the initial exception period under subparagraph 7,b74 #g4 ,oversight of migration and management 7a7 ,in general ,the ,administrator shall provide oversight of the migration to1 and management of1 the ,platform established under this ,act1 including-- 7#a7 reviewing the adequacy of the operational framework of the ,administration for the ,platform1 in consultation with the ,federal ,credit ,policy ,council2 7#b7 establishing ,government-wide standards for loan management1 in coordination with the ,director and the ,federal ,credit ,policy ,council1 that shall apply to the ,provider and all ,federal credit programs1 and that shall facilitate migration to the ,platform and efficient operations of loan management activities2 7#c7 providing a recommendation to the ,director on each exception granted under section #f7;c71 including an analysis of the impact of such an exception on the long-term ,government-wide cost effectiveness of loan management and the financial sustainability of the ,platform2 7#d7 monitoring agency compliance with migration requirements under section2 and 7#e7 submitting to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report on the status of agency migrations1 any exceptions granted by the ,director under section #f7;c77#b71 the service levels provided to customer agencies of the ,platform1 any recommended investments or policy changes required to improve the functionality of the ,platform1 and an analysis of the long-term government-wide cost effectiveness of loan management4 7b7 ,authority ,to establish a marketplace 7#a7 ,in general ,after establishment of the initial ,platform1 the ,administrator shall make an assessment to determine if further adoption1 service level improvements1 and cost efficiencies would be achieved through the designation of additional ,providers to create a shared services marketplace1 and if so1 make such a recommendation to the ,director4 7#b7 ,additional designations 7,a7 ,in general ,based on the recommendation made under paragraph 7#a71 the ,director may designate up to #c additional agencies as shared service providers to assume and fulfill the authorities and responsibilities outlined for the ,provider in section #e4 7,b7 ,requirements ,any additional designated shared service providers under subparagraph 7,a7-- 7i7 shall utilize the public facing capabilities established and managed by the initial ,provider and operational host of the ,platform designated under section #d7;a7 to promote a consistent experience for loan applicants through the ,platform and reduce fragmentation across systems2 and 7ii7 may otherwise manage separate loan management support functions1 with the approval of the ,administrator4 #h4 ,financing operations 7a7 ,in general ,customer agencies shall reimburse the ,provider for services through interagency agreements1 service-level agreements1 or other arrangements necessary to provide shared services through the ,platform to participating customer agencies and to recover costs as appropriate4 7b7 ,remittance fee 7#a7 ,in general ,to provide for ongoing operations and maintenance efforts to maintain the functioning standards of the ,platform1 the ,provider may collect a remittance fee that shall be applied with respect to each ,federal loan serviced through the ,platform4 7#b7 ,amount ,the amount of the remittance fee collected under paragraph 7#a7 shall be determined by the ,provider in consultation with the ,administrator1 but shall be not more than #j4be percent of the face value of the ,federal loan serviced1 unless otherwise authorized by law or guidance issued by the ,director4 7#c7 ,limit for direct loans to individuals ,a remittance fee under paragraph 7#a7 shall not be assessed with respect to any direct loan made to an individual borrower unless the head of the agency administering the applicable ,federal loan program submit to the ,director a certification that-- 7,a7 provides that the assessment of the fee will not materially impair borrower affordability1 program access1 or the statutory objectives of the ,federal loan program2 7,b7 includes an analysis of borrower impact2 and 7,c7 shall be made available to the ,administrator and on the ,platform4 7c7 ,fund ,all remittance fees collected under this section shall be held in a dedicated fund and shall be used exclusively for the operations of1 and maintenance activities related to1 the ,platform1 which funds-- 7#a7 may be transferred by the ,provider to customer agencies1 with the approval of the ,administrator1 to support necessary migration1 operations1 and maintenance activities2 and 7#b7 shall remain available until expended4