Laura Fink, Gianno Caldwell on canceling student loan debt, taxes<\/p>\n
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal unveiled legislation on Wednesday to make college free for millions of Americans – a policy that would be paid for with a new tax on Wall Street.<\/p>\n
The bill would make community colleges and trade schools tuition-free for everyone, while four-year colleges and universities would be tuition-free for students from families making less than $125,000 annually. The proposal would also double the Pell Grant award, which can be used for living and non-tuition expenses, to $12,990 from $6,495 for the 2021-2022 school year.<\/p>\n
CANCELING STUDENT LOAN DEBT COULD BENEFIT WEALTHY AMERICANS THE MOST<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n "In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a higher education should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few," Sanders said in a statement. "If we are going to have the kind of standard of living that the American people deserve, we need to have the best educated workforce in the world." <\/p>\n Sanders, I-Vt., and Jayapal, D-Wash., said the federal government would shoulder about 75% of the cost of free college at public schools, while states would pay the remaining share. In the event of an economic downturn, the federal government's portion would increase to 90%. <\/p>\n The progressive lawmakers called for a new tax on Wall Street in order to fund the measure, the cost of which is unclear. The Tax on Wall Street Speculation would impose a 0.5% tax on stock trades, a 0.1% fee on bonds and a 0.0005% levy on derivatives. It would raise up to $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to a copy of the bill.<\/p>\n BIDEN TO EXTEND STUDENT LOAN FORBEARANCE, EVICTION MORATORIUM<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The proposal comes amid growing pressure on President Biden to eliminate $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower. At the beginning of February, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced a resolution calling on Biden to erase $50,000 per borrower via executive order.<\/p>\n The lawmakers maintained that Biden could use existing executive authority under the Higher Education Act to order the Department of Education to "modify, compromise, waive or release" student loans.<\/p>\n But Biden has rejected those plans and has instead called for forgiving $10,000 in student loan debt. He also extended a freeze on student loan payments through Sept. 30, 2021, immediately upon entering office, benefiting about 41 million Americans.<\/p>\n Canceling student loan debt may disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans: A recent working paper<\/u> published by the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics shows that erasing all student loan debt would distribute $192 billion to the top 20%<\/u> of earners in the U.S., but just $29 billion to the bottom 20% of U.S. households.<\/p>\n