YI advocated protecting student loan borrowers in default from losing their professional license, supporting a successful bipartisan initiative to ensure student loan borrowers such as teachers, barbers, and truck drivers stay in the workplace. With the passage of SB 37 in the 86th legislative session, Texans will no longer lose professional licensure due to student loan default. Kennedy Quintanilla, one of our Texas advocates, shares her experience on working on getting the bill to pass and the impact its made on her life. Check out more reflections from our young advocates on their work in the Texas legislative process.
Prior to the passage of SB 37, if an individual defaulted on their student loans in Texas they were at risk of having their professional license revoked. Taking away professional licenses from people who defaulted on their student loans perpetuates a cycle of debt that puts them in an even worse financial situation. For most of these individuals, they are already in a rough financial situation, which might make default more likely, and with their professional license taken away, they are unable to financially get their lives back on track. SB 37 addresses the issue by prohibiting the use of student loan default as a reason to refuse the renewal of a professional license and prevents the removal of a professional license for defaulting.
License revocation affects a plethora of professions including truck drivers, cosmetologists, lawyers, nurses, teachers, travel guides, and many more. In 2017, Texas had more than 4,200 professionals who were in danger of losing their licenses because of defaulting on student loans. Our national student loan debt continues to rise each year, right now sitting at more than $1.5 trillion. With more than one million people defaulting on their student loans every year, the bill will hopefully alleviate some of the stress associated with defaulting on student loans for Texans.
The opportunity to meet with my representatives, talk to them about prioritizing the needs of young people, and see something come to fruition has truly allowed me to grow as an advocate. In preparation for these meetings, I made sure to do my homework on the legislators to ensure they were compelled by my arguments. I compiled facts on each legislator into a one-pager for quick and easy reference to help me as I got ready to meet with them. I also grew as a leader through this experience since I had to work with other advocates to research legislators and also train them on how to present the information we found. I took charge of the process, which took my leadership skills to another level.
Kennedy Huerta Quintanilla is a second-year Political Communication major at the University of Texas at Austin. She is proud to serve as a Legislative Intern for Representative Todd Hunter from the Texas House District 32 as well as a Student Ambassador for the Moody College of Communication Student Advising Office.