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☆ House Republicans are moving forward with a bill that would overhaul student-loan repayment and make it harder for Biden to get relief to borrowers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Democrats introduced their own package to address student debt, but it's unlikely to advance. AdvertisementHouse Republicans are moving forward with a bill that could make it harder for student-loan borrowers to get new forms of relief. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have offered solutions to combat the student debt crisis, but there's disagreement on the best way to do so. When it comes to student-loan repayment in particular, the legislation aims to put constraints on the Education Department's ability to implement new programs. AdvertisementLimits debt relief.

Persons: —, Virginia Foxx, Foxx, Joe Biden's, Biden, overreach, Biden's, Pell Grant, Bobby Scott Organizations: Service, Democratic, Higher, Lawmakers, Education Department, GOP, Democrats, College, Public Locations: —

In testimony before a House committee, the university leaders said there was a fine line between protecting free speech and allowing protests, while also combatting antisemitism. “Harvard must provide firm leadership in the fight against antisemitism and hate speech even while preserving room for free expression and dissent. This is difficult work, and I admit that we have not always gotten it right,” said Claudine Gay, of Harvard. In recent weeks, the federal government has opened investigations into several universities — including Penn and Harvard — regarding antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the committee's ranking Democrat, criticized Republicans for “stoking culture wars” while claiming to be combatting discrimination on campus.

Persons: “, ”, Claudine Gay, ” Gay, Liz Magill, Sally Kornbluth, ” Magill, Virginia Foxx, Bobby Scott of Virginia, Scott Organizations: WASHINGTON, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “ Harvard, Penn, MIT, The Education Department, Education, Workforce, intersectionality, ” Rep, Republicans, Education Department, Civil, “, Associated Press, Carnegie Corporation of New, AP Locations: Israel, North Carolina, Carnegie Corporation of New York

☆ Student-loan borrowers aren't waiting for payments to resume to start paying off their debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Treasury recorded a $1 billion cash flow into the Education Department on September 1. Borrowers are already starting to make payments before bills are due next month. On September 1, interest began accruing on millions of federal student-loan borrowers' balances, marking the end of the over three-year payment pause introduced at the start of the pandemic. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile the influx of cash into the Education Department might not solely be from student-loan payments, it's clear it was a major contributor this month, based on Treasury data. While some borrowers have been using the time to prepare for repayment, the Education Department previously said 4 million borrowers are enrolled in the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan, intended to lower monthly payments.

Persons: James Kvaal, Kvaal, Bobby Scott Organizations: Treasury, Education Department, Service, Politico, Republican Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ The GOP is moving forward with a bill that would force student-loan borrowers into 'payments they can't afford' by blocking Biden's new repayment plan, a top Democrat says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans began marking up a bill that would overturn Biden's new SAVE income-driven repayment plan. Over 4 million borrowers are already enrolled in the plan, the Education Department said. In his opening statement during the markup, he said that the GOP bill would "undermine the economic security of millions of student borrowers." AdvertisementAdvertisement"With the return to student loan repayment underway, student loan borrowers and their families are already anxious," he said. Student-loan payments are resuming in October, and the Education Department has touted its SAVE plan as an option for borrowers who are worried about affording their monthly payments.

Persons: Bobby Scott, Joe Biden's, isn't, Biden, Sen, Bill Cassidy Organizations: Democratic, Education Department, Service, Republicans, Senate, GOP, SAVE, Republican Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Companies withhold billions in wages annually through unpaid tips and overtime. Some lawmakers now demand stricter penalties.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Workers, especially in low-paid industries, have millions in wages stolen each year. Wage theft — when employers don't pay their workers the benefits they're entitled to — is incredibly prevalent across the economy. From 2017 to 2020, workers clawed back over $3 billion in stolen wages , according to the left-leaning nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute. Under Murray's proposed legislation, workers would get paid back fully what they're owed — not just minimum wage. Meanwhile, government agencies are also trying to take aim at firms not paying workers what they're owed.

Persons: Sen, Patty Murray, Rosa DeLauro, Bobby Scott, Murray, Murray's, —, they'll, they're Organizations: Service, Workers, Economic Policy Institute, Labor Department Locations: Wall, Silicon, DOL, —

☆ Student-loan borrowers need more 'individual responsibility,' a top GOP lawmaker says as the House advances a bill to block Biden's debt cancellation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A GOP resolution to block student-debt cancellation advanced out of the House education committee on Wednesday. The bill heads to a full House vote, but it's unlikely to pass a Democratic-controlled Senate. 45 is the first step in restoring individual responsibility and solving the root challenges of the student loan system." Republicans have expressed similar sentiments since the lead up to Biden's announcement of broad debt relief. "Let's be clear: this resolution to eliminate student debt relief would hurt millions of student borrowers and their families," he added.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is introducing a bill on Thursday to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, and it's remained unchanged since 2008. Sanders has long pushed for a higher federal minimum wage, although he's been more recently stymied by centrist Democrats. Scott said in a statement at the time that even before the pandemic, "the $7.25 federal minimum wage was economically and morally indefensible." Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business."

☆ Senator Patty Murray says it's impossible to keep the economy growing without affordable, well-paid childcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senator Patty Murray is once again pushing legislation to make childcare affordable and accessible. She told Insider the growth of the US economy relies on workers having access to childcare. Under the Child Care for Working Families Act, families' childcare costs would be capped at 7% of their income, and families that earn under 85% of their state's median would pay nothing at all. "Childcare was a crisis long ago, but it was a silent crisis," Murray told Insider. "Women are in the workforce to provide for their families," Murray said.

☆ Canceling student debt for millions of borrowers 'cheated by for-profit colleges' isn't enough, Biden's Education Department says — it's time for the top executives to pay up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Education Department released new guidance to hold executives of for-profit colleges financially liable for unpaid costs to the government. When a school shuts down or is accused of fraud, taxpayers or students often pay the costs. Last week, the Education Department released new guidance on implementing the Education Secretary's authority to hold executives of private colleges financially liable for the cost of unpaid debts defrauded students took on. "The Biden-Harris Administration is canceling the loans of more than a million borrowers cheated by for-profit colleges. But too often, the owners and executives of these colleges escape liability," Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement.

☆ Student-loan borrowers with graduate school debt should get more relief under Biden's new proposal to make monthly payments cheaper, a top Democratic lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The public comment period for Biden's proposals to reform income-driven repayment plans just ended. Rep. Bobby Scott, top Democrat on the House education committee, suggested relief be expanded for graduate students. "I propose decreasing the time of repayment for graduate loans under REPAYE from 25 years to 20 years in the final rule," Scott wrote. "Parity between the undergraduate and graduate loan repayment timelines would incentivize borrowers to enroll in the more generous REPAYE plan and reduce confusion when deciding on a repayment plans generally." "I don't live an extravagant life, but just the basic necessities of life, and so I've done the income repayment plan for a while," one borrower previously told Insider.

☆ 69 Republican lawmakers call for Biden's student-loan repayment and forgiveness proposals to be 'rescinded,' blasting them as 'blatantly illegal' and 'a smack in the face of taxpayers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

69 GOP lawmakers urged Biden to withdraw his student-loan forgiveness and repayment proposals. They said his proposal to reform income-driven repayment plans is "blatantly illegal." This proposal is reckless, fiscally irresponsible, and blatantly illegal and, as such, it should be rescinded." "Under current IDR plans, most borrowers can expect to repay some or all their debt," the analysis said. "This proposal is reckless, illegal, and will saddle hardworking Americans and future generations with unsustainable debt."

☆ Meet a man with $47,000 in student debt who's been trapped in a student-loan repayment 'bureaucracy nightmare' for nearly 3 decades without the debt cancellation he was promised
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He was promised loan forgiveness after 25 years, but he's still repaying the debt with nearly a decade to go. "We are literally crushed by this debt," Harmon, 53, told Insider. NPR obtained internal documents indicating that three student-loan companies — PHEAA, CornerStone, and MOHELA — weren't tracking payments borrowers made over the past two decades for their income-driven repayment plans. 'The government is not fulfilling its obligation'US lawmakers are aware of failures with income-driven repayment plans. It found that the department had approved just 157 loans for full forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans, with 7,700 more loans "potentially eligible" for forgiveness.

☆ Biden's big pandemic stimulus bill is still helping prop up pension funds nearly 2 years after it was passed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tucked in President Joe Biden's first big stimulus package was a provision to help fund pensions. Previously, there was a multiemployer pension crisis looming, with some potentially unable to pay out. But the money from the American Rescue Plan Act propped up 350,000 more workers' pensions. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the provision in the American Rescue Plan would cost $86 billion, according to the House Committee on Education and Labor. The pension relief comes as Republicans potentially eye cuts to Social Security, another major social safety net for the elderly and retirees.

☆ JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon slams Biden's student-loan forgiveness as 'badly done' and 'didn't fix the problem which will now be ongoing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Biden's student-debt relief was "badly done." He told lawmakers he wished the relief had been further targeted to those who need it most. At the end of August, Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-loan forgiveness for federal borrowers making under $125,000 a year, and JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon told lawmakers he thought the policy was "badly done." "We basically put a Band-Aid on, spent a lot of money and didn't fix the problem which will now be ongoing," he added. Still, as Democrats and the Biden administration have noted, this one-time relief is only the first step toward addressing the problem.

☆ Josh Hawley introduces a bill to hold colleges accountable for surging student debt instead of 'teaching nonsense like men can get pregnant'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill to hold colleges accountable for student debt borrowers take on. Hawley said the schools have gotten endowments while "teaching nonsense like men can get pregnant." "For decades, universities have amassed billion-dollar endowments while teaching nonsense like men can get pregnant. Instead, it's time to put universities on the hook and give students the information they need to make informed decisions." On the same day that Biden announced his relief, Hawley bashed the policy while once again expressing his concern that "wacky professors" are teaching that "men can get pregnant."

☆ After Biden's student-loan forgiveness, Democrats move to 'improve the lives' of borrowers with a bill to make future debt easier to pay off
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Democrats introduced a bill to make student loans easier to pay off after Biden's debt relief. The bill would improve PSLF while lowering interest rates on new student loans. "Simply put, by making loans cheaper to take out and easier to pay off, the LOAN Act will help improve the lives of student-loan borrowers — both now and in the future." Specifically, according to a fact sheet, the Democrats' bill would:Double the Pell Grant by raising the maximum award over five years to $13,000. But Democrats are continuing to laud the loan forgiveness, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on board with taking the relief further.

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