Leaders of the House and Senate education committees joined college student groups on Thursday to rally support for the College Student Relief Act (H.R. 5) legislation that would cut the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans in half over the next five years.
Speaking to a room crowded with press and college students, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said the House would debate and "hopefully pass by an overwhelming bipartisan majority" the bill on Jan. 17. However, Miller did not offer any more clues about how he would offset the cost of the bill in order to comply with the "pay/go" budget provision the House approved. Democrats will reveal those details today when they formally introduce the bill in the House.
Miller noted that the interest rate cut was merely the beginning of Democrats' efforts to address the rising cost of college.
"It is not going to end with the first 100 hours; the first 100 hours is just the beginning," Miller said.
Miller added that Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) would introduce and get the bill passed in the Senate. Kennedy said his committee would hold hearings on the College Student Relief Act next week.
In addition to cutting student loan interest rates, Miller and Kennedy said Democrats hope to make it easier for students to attend college by:
- Increasing the maximum Pell Grant
- Capping student loan payments at 15 percent of monthly discretionary income
- Granting loan forgiveness to any college student who serves in a public service profession for 10 years
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