S 3253 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Servicemember Student Loan Affordability Act of 2025
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the interest rate limitation on debt entered into during military service to debt incurred during military service to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before military service, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the 6 percent interest rate cap to servicemembers who consolidate or refinance student loans taken out before military service. Currently, the law caps interest rates at 6 percent on debt incurred during military service, but this bill would expand that protection to cover consolidation or refinancing of pre-military-service student loans. The cap would apply to both federal student loans and private education loans. The interest rate limitation would remain in effect during the servicemember's period of military service.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
5 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Richard J. Durbin’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SIMMONS HANLY CONROY LLC $19,133
- THE GORI LAW FIRM $18,300
- CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES PC $17,750
- POWER ROGERS & SMITH LLP $17,300
- MAUNE RAICHLE HARTLEY FRENCH & MUDD $14,638
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Richard J. Durbin → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Nov 20, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (text: CR S8278) · senate
- Nov 20, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 20, 2025
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the interest rate limitation on debt entered into during military service to debt incurred during military service to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before military service, 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 “Servicemember Student Loan Affordability Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. INTEREST RATE LIMITATION ON DEBT ENTERED INTO DURING MILITARY SERVICE TO CONSOLIDATE OR REFINANCE STUDENT LOANS INCURRED BEFORE MILITARY SERVICE.
(a) In General.—Subsection (a) of section 207 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3937) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting “on debt incurred before service” after “Limitation to 6 percent”;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs
(3) and (4), respectively;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph (2):
“(2) Limitation to 6 percent on debt incurred during military service to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before military service.—
“(A) In general.—Subject to subparagraph (B), an obligation or liability bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year that is incurred by a servicemember, or the servicemember and the servicemember’s spouse jointly, during military service to consolidate or refinance one or more student loans incurred by the servicemember before such military service shall not bear an interest at a rate in excess of 6 percent during the period of military service.
“(B) Limitation.—Subparagraph (A) shall apply only to the consolidation or refinancing of student loans described in such subparagraph and shall not apply to the consolidation or refinancing of any other obligation or liability.”;
(4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection, by inserting “or (2)” after “paragraph
(1)”; and
(5) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, by striking “paragraph (2)” and inserting “paragraph (3)”.
(b) Implementation of Limitation.—Subsection (b) of such section is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “the interest rate limitation in subsection (a)” and inserting “an interest rate limitation in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a)”; and
(2) in paragraph (2)—
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking “effective as of date of order to active duty” and inserting “effective date”; and
(B) by inserting before the period at the end the following: “in the case of an obligation or liability covered by subsection (a)(1), or as of the date the servicemember (or servicemember and spouse jointly) incurs the obligation or liability concerned under subsection (a)(2)”.
(c) Student Loan Defined.—Subsection (d) of such section is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(3) Student loan.—The term ‘student loan’ means—
“(A) a Federal student loan made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); or
“(B) a private education loan as that term is defined in section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)).”. <all>
Comments