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- Sen. Chuck Schumer said he will continue to fight for $50,000 in student-loan forgiveness per borrower.
- Biden previously said $50,000 is not an amount he is considering.
- Latest reports suggest the relief will be $10,000 for borrowers making under $150,000 a year.
The Senate Majority Leader doesn't see President Joe Biden's $10,000 student-loan forgiveness plan as the end of the road.
"We need the working people of America, we need this powerful, progressive, thoughtful and caring labor movement to make this issue the kind of issue that resonates from one end of America to the other," Chuck Schumer said during an AFL-CIO roundtable on student debt on Wednesday, adding that student-loan borrowers "can't do all the things people look forward to because every month that damn payment is on their backs."
"Let's fight and persist until we succeed in canceling $50,000 in student debt," Schumer said.
Schumer has long been an advocate for $50,000 in student debt cancellation for federal borrowers — but Biden stunted that effort in April when he told reporters $50,000 in relief is not something he was considering. Instead, recent reports have suggested he is looking at $10,000 in forgiveness for borrowers making under $150,000 a year. He will likely announce his final plan in July or August, closer to when the pause on student-loan payments is set to expire.
For Schumer and many of his Democratic colleagues, though, $10,000 in relief is not sufficient. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who joined Schumer at the Wednesday roundtable, also called for $50,000 in relief, saying that we "have a President of the United States who cares about labor... and we are here today to say, 'Mr. President, labor cares about student loan debt."
"Please cancel $50,000 in student loan debt," Warren added. According to data provided by Warren's office last month, $50,000 in relief would wipe out balances for 30 million Americans, while Biden's $10,000 forgiveness plan would do the same for 13 million borrowers.
Biden has not yet publicly confirmed an amount he will cancel, but he told reporters over the weekend he is close to making a decision, and a further extension of the pause on student-loan payments is "on the table." Still, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have expressed concerns with the Education Department's preparedness to implement loan forgiveness given a decision has yet to be finalized, but Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has confirmed the department is "ready to roll" with the president's plan.
Union leaders, like President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten, hope the plan is to go big on relief.
"Canceling up to $50,000 of student debt is the only just and moral response to our nation's student debt crisis, and it would be a game-changer economically for educators, nurses, public employees and other working people who face enormous economic challenges as a result of their debt burden," Weingarten said during the roundtable.
source https://businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-chuck-schumer-fight-for-50000-biden-rejected-2022-6