U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tim Scott (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) recently introduced The Student Loan Accountability Act, which seeks to prohibit the Biden administration from canceling student loan debt.
The senators claim that if the proposed action advances, it would result in adding up to $1.7 trillion to the national debt while penalizing those who weighed financial considerations when making higher education decisions.
“It makes no sense for the Biden Administration to cancel nearly $2 trillion in student loan debt,” Romney said. “This decision would not only be unfair to those who already repaid their loans or decided to pursue alternative education paths, but it would be wildly inflationary at a time of already historic inflation. Democrats and Republicans alike have called on the President to not take this unwise step and pile more onto our $30 trillion national debt.”
Romney said the legislation would ensure that Biden would be prevented from taking action.
“Taxpayers who did not attend higher education or paid off their student loans responsibly should not be footing the bill for those who didn’t,” Burr, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said. “Not only is that patently unfair, it doesn’t solve the root problem. Canceling student loan debt unilaterally will only encourage colleges and universities to further increase tuition and encourage future borrowers to take out even riskier loans. Congress must pass the Student Loan Accountability Act to make it clear this legally dubious and undeniably damaging proposal from the Administration cannot stand.”
The bill includes exemptions for existing targeted federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, or repayment programs currently in effect under the Higher Education Act.