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Virginia House Appropriations Committee stops student debt relief measures
Virginia House Appropriations Committee stops student debt relief measures
Proposals to revive student loan refinancing program fail, emphasize party lines
by Matthew Gittelman | Jan 25 2017 | 7 hours ago
Two bills intending to help students refinance federal loan debt failed to pass through the higher education subcommittee of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee. The measures, proposed and largely supported by Democrats in the House of Delegates, aimed to establish a board called the Virginia Education Loan Authority, which would have had the power to refinance high-interest student loans.
The Republican-controlled subcommittee tabled the proposed legislation. Some opponents of the bill were concerned the program would place too much fiscal pressure on the state government and involve it in solving a problem they claim was created by federal policies.
Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax), who sponsored one of the bills, said Virginians have altogether accrued $30 billion in student loan debt, and the proposed legislation would have at least partially alleviated financial burdens for approximately 629,000 state citizens.
....
Simon explained how the state government exited the business of issuing student loans in 1990s, leaving “the federal government and the private sector to take over the student loan business completely.” The former authority existed from 1972-97. ... “Virginia decided that it was a business that it no longer wanted to or needed to be in,” Simon said. “The federal student loan program got big enough that it didn’t want to compete with the system here in Virginia.”
Proposals to revive student loan refinancing program fail, emphasize party lines
by Matthew Gittelman | Jan 25 2017 | 7 hours ago
Two bills intending to help students refinance federal loan debt failed to pass through the higher education subcommittee of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee. The measures, proposed and largely supported by Democrats in the House of Delegates, aimed to establish a board called the Virginia Education Loan Authority, which would have had the power to refinance high-interest student loans.
The Republican-controlled subcommittee tabled the proposed legislation. Some opponents of the bill were concerned the program would place too much fiscal pressure on the state government and involve it in solving a problem they claim was created by federal policies.
Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax), who sponsored one of the bills, said Virginians have altogether accrued $30 billion in student loan debt, and the proposed legislation would have at least partially alleviated financial burdens for approximately 629,000 state citizens.
....
Simon explained how the state government exited the business of issuing student loans in 1990s, leaving “the federal government and the private sector to take over the student loan business completely.” The former authority existed from 1972-97. ... “Virginia decided that it was a business that it no longer wanted to or needed to be in,” Simon said. “The federal student loan program got big enough that it didn’t want to compete with the system here in Virginia.”
