Bill Text: MI HR0323 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A resolution to urge Congress to repeal the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-30 - Referred To Committee On Education [HR0323 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2021-HR0323-Introduced.html
house resolution no.323
Reps. Fink, Beeler, Carra, Meerman, Allor and Bollin offered the following resolution:
A resolution to urge Congress to repeal the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.
Whereas, The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is the U.S. Department of Education’s federal student loan program. The program provides Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Direct Consolidation Loans to eligible borrowers; and
Whereas, Despite having been established to make higher education an attainable reality for all Americans, the federal students loans program has instead facilitated a new array of problems, including precipitous rise of tuition costs, making higher education more expensive and unaffordable for many Americans; and
Whereas, The loans have also contributed to a student loan debt crisis in the United States, with about 45 million borrowers holding over $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt alone. The average amount owed is nearly $30,000 per borrower. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category behind mortgage debt; and
Whereas, The massive amount of student loan debt is a burden on the entire economy. Because of this debt, many Americans are struggling to become homeowners, save for retirement, and contribute to the economy in other ways; and
Whereas, In response to financial and economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education announced a pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections in 2020. After several extensions, the pause is currently set to end on August 31, 2022; and
Whereas, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently found that over five million people face serious financial risk once payments resume. Borrowers who face difficulty paying their debt face delinquency and default; and
Whereas, If borrowers can no longer be expected to pay their student loan debt, the federal government must stop issuing it. Additionally, discontinuing the issuance of federal student loans could prevent economic crises in the future; now therefore be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge Congress to repeal the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.
