Heritage Action launches portal for voters to weigh in on Biden’s student loans overhaul
Haisten Willis
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A conservative advocacy group has launched a website seeking public comments against the Biden administration‘s dramatic overhaul of federal student loans.
The proposed overhaul could cap student loan payments at 5% of an undergraduate borrower’s income, 0% for some, and, in many cases, loans would be forgiven completely after no more than 20 years. Any loans not repaid would fall on the backs of taxpayers.
BIDEN PUSHES CONTROVERSIAL STUDENT LOANS TRANSFORMATION AS ‘FORGIVENESS’ FALTERS
Because these rules are being proposed by the executive branch, they do not go through rounds of debate and votes in Congress. However, under the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act, they must go through a public comment period to receive feedback before being implemented.
The group, Heritage Action for America, launched a website Wednesday soliciting comments from voters to have their voices heard.
Once received, those comments must be taken into account by the federal government before the rules go into effect and may result in them being altered or even eliminated depending on the volume and force of feedback.
“This is a blatant attempt from the Biden administration to buy support from young voters at the expense of hardworking American taxpayers who either responsibly paid off their debts or never attended college in the first place,” said Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation.
“The American people, however, have another chance to fight back against this unjust rule by engaging in the federal rulemaking process and submitting a public comment,” Anderson continued. “As we have seen on a number of other issues, this is a key part of our toolbox in defeating and delaying the Biden administration’s radical and unpopular actions.”
As proposed by the Department of Education, borrowers would pay back no more than 5% of what the administration deems “discretionary” income, and anyone earning less than 225% of the federal poverty level, roughly $30,600 for a single borrower or $62,400 for a family of four, would not have to make payments at all. Any remaining student loan balance would be forgiven after between 10 and 20 years, with lesser amounts forgiven earlier.
The proposed regulations have been published in the Federal Register, where the public can comment until Feb. 10.
The White House and Education Department stress that the proposal will prevent former students from being financially burdened by student loans that prevent them from starting families, buying homes, or starting businesses.
But criticism has come quickly for the proposals over budget concerns since most loans would not be repaid in full. The Brookings Institution’s Adam Looney wrote in September that the program effectively turns most loans into untargeted grants.
“The Biden administration is attempting to move forward with a student debt amnesty plan that would cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and prolong high tuition rates in our higher education institutions,” Anderson said. “Especially at a time of record-high inflation, this proposed rule from the Biden administration is an economic disaster that would put even more of a burden on the American people.”
More than $100 billion in additional loans could be taken out every year under the program, and any amounts forgiven would fall on taxpayers.
The Education Department estimated that lifetime payments per dollar borrowed would fall by 83% on average for borrowers in the bottom 30% of earnings, compared to just 5% for those in the top 30%.
The White House and Education Department have not responded to questions from the Washington Examiner about how the proposal would be funded.
The Biden administration says it will hold schools accountable by creating a “gainful employment regulation” that would cut off federal financial aid to programs that don’t provide financial value and warn borrowers about programs that leave graduates with excessive debt.
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Conservatives seemed unimpressed, with House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) decrying the idea as an ineffective “shame list.”
One key question is whether Biden has the legal authority to make these changes on his own. The Supreme Court has taken a narrower view of executive authority in recent years and may be poised to strike down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program as soon as next month.