Republicans Want to Block Biden’s ‘SAVE’ Student Debt Plan

September 6, 2023

Senate and House Introduce CRAs to Block Student Loan Repayment Plan That Helps Low Income Borrowers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) introduced companion Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions yesterday to repeal the Saving on a Valuable Education, or “SAVE,” income-driven repayment (IDR) plan announced by the Biden administration earlier this year. The CRA is a tool Congress can use to overturn final rules from federal agencies. 

Jaylon Herbin, director of federal campaigns at the Center for Responsible Lending, made the following statement:  “We condemn this move to block a plan that will provide significant financial relief to low-income borrowers and communities of color. SAVE not only offers the lowest monthly payments of any income-driven repayment plan, but it also prevents balances from growing due to unpaid interest, effectively stimulating the economy by putting more money in the pockets of hardworking borrowers. Money that they could use for a down payment on a home, starting a business, building savings or even for retirement.”  

Under SAVE, payments are based on a borrower’s income and family size. Moreover, the amount of a borrower’s discretionary income that applies to repayment is cut in half, which lowers monthly payments. The plan also prevents unpaid interest from increasing a borrower’s loan balance, and ensures remaining balances are forgiven after a certain number of years. [View CRL’s video discussing how SAVE will benefit borrowers.]

Herbin continued, “We urge legislators to oppose the CRAs to repeal SAVE and urge borrowers to tell their legislators to vote against them. SAVE provides hope for borrowers as the administration continues to fight alongside advocacy groups to find other ways to achieve broad-based student loan relief. 

We continue to support President Biden in his quest to make our educational finance system fairer for all borrowers and oppose harmful legislation, such as these CRAs, that will set our already flawed student loan repayment system back to the pre-pandemic era.” 

Additional Information: 

• Borrowers can go to Congress.gov, look for “Find Your Members” and type in their state to find their representatives and tell them to vote against the Congressional Review Act that will halt the implementation of the SAVE plan.
• Borrowers can visit StudentAid.gov/SAVE to submit an application. It takes about 10 minutes to complete.
• Our nation’s $1.7 trillion student loan crisis is a real problem, particularly as Americans are still recovering from the pandemic and its economic aftershocks and payments are set to resume in October. In states such as Arizona borrowers collectively owe $31.4 billion in student loan debt. In West Virginia, $7.2 billion, and in Montana, $4.2 billion. For more detailed state student debt information, you may view Education Data Initiative’s page. 
• For detailed information on how the new SAVE plan works, view CRL’s video discussing the breakdown of monthly payments borrowers can expect.