56 Organizations Join in Opposition to Senate Bill that Fails to Protect Student Borrowers

Posted July 28, 2020
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56 Organizations Join in Opposition to Senate Bill that Fails to Protect Student Borrowers  

Washington, D.C. — Moments ago, Young Invincibles joined 55 other organizations in submitting a letter to Senate leadership in opposition to the Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act released yesterday. 

Young Invincibles led this effort with Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for Responsible Lending, the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), and the Student Borrower Protection Center. 

Kyle Southern, Policy and Advocacy Director for Higher Education and Workforce at Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:

Young people have been behind financially since the Great Recession. It’s alarming some members of Congress would again shortchange student borrowers in the midst of financial turmoil. Today, we’re proud to stand with other leading advocates in demanding real measures to protect student borrowers in the short term and put young people on more solid financial footing for long-term recovery.” 

The letter urges Congress to pass legislation that: 

  • extends the repayment pause for at least one year;
  • expands eligibility for this repayment suspension to include 2020 graduates and the 9 million borrowers left out by the CARES Act; and 
  • includes more meaningful relief for borrowers during the pandemic through student debt cancellation.

Statements from other lead authors:

“Instead of providing the student debt cancellation that would reduce expenses for struggling borrowers and boost the economy overall, Senator Alexander and Majority Leader McConnell have given borrowers nothing but rhetoric. You can’t pay your bills with rhetoric,” said Alexis Goldstein, Senior Policy Analyst at Americans for Financial Reform. “Borrowers faced with seeing their student loan payments resume on October 1 in the midst of an explosion of the pandemic and an ever-worsening economy need real solutions, not a worse version of repayment plans they already have.”

Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Federal Advocacy Director and Senior Counsel Ashley Harrington.  

“This proposal provides no new relief for student loan borrowers. It merely repackages the programs that currently exist and leaves borrowers with a less generous, more onerous, and ultimately more expensive repayment plan. It further subjects distressed borrowers to harsh government collection tactics starting on October 1.” said Persis Yu, Director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.  

SBPC Policy Director Mike Pierce. “Instead of taking the necessary steps to protect borrowers from a looming financial disaster, we see tired policies that fail to address the magnitude of this crisis.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jesse Barba