Last week, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., paired up with U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., to offer a proposal to lower federal student loan rates.
Rokita introduced the “Student Loan Lower Interest Rate and Lower Monthly Payment Refinancing Act" with Hastings as a co-sponsor. The bill would allow students and their parents to refinance student loans and obtain lower interest rates through the market. The legislation would also end service contracts and its backers insist it will lower the costs picked up by taxpayers.
“We are putting money back in students’ pockets,” Rokita said as he brought out the proposal. “Student loans are a burden for millions of Americans, but with our new legislation we will be able to help alleviate that burden by making it easier to refinance loans at a lower interest rate. We are creating flexibility that will help yesterday’s, today’s, and future students.
“More than 43 million Americans borrow money from the federal government for their education and the total is a whopping $1.3 trillion,” Rokita added. “This legislation has the promise to help all of these individuals. In the next decade it will also save nearly $20 billion in Federal student loan programs. This is a great step forward to help our students, past and present.”
“Interest rates on new federal student loans are approximately 3.8 percent,” Hastings said. “However, there are millions of American’s that are stuck with student loans from the past with much higher interest rates, which takes years to pay off. That is why I joined my colleague, Congressman Todd Rokita, in introducing the Student Loan Lower Interest Rate and Lower Monthly Payment Refinancing Act of 2017. This bipartisan bill will help facilitate quicker student loan debt reduction and help millions of Americans.
“I believe that in Congress we should be doing more to work across the aisle on bipartisan measures to address the many issues facing this nation,” Hastings continued. “Student debt is one of those critically important issues. It is my sincere hope that my colleagues will join the Rokita-Hastings’ bill in order to help offer relief from higher student loan rates.”
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee last week.
