1. United States
2. Ore.
3. Letter

Right now, the House passed the budget reconciliation bill that, if approved, will be history’s most dangerous higher ed bill. The bill will take away the right for working class people to access higher ed, severely hike my student loan payments, and remove the possibility of cancellation. Make no mistake: this bill, if passed, will bar working-class families like mine attending higher education. You should be doing the exact opposite. I urge you during this budget reconciliation fight to uplift the impacts and the risks of removing crucial student loan debt protections. Any decisions or actions regarding this issue will have monstrous effects to tens of millions of borrowers currently and for future generations. There's been a lot of proposed student loan debt protections to be stripped from the 45 million student debtors in this country and those to come. The list of those set for the chopping block includes existing income-driven repayment plans (IDR & SAVE), and Pell Grants. The America Opportunity Tax credit is at risk of being taken away which provides a tax credit for those paying interest on their student loans. Borrower Defense and Closed School Discharge are also threatened to be removed which both are crucial in supporting students who were frauded by their school or attending a school that closes. There's even a proposal to repeal the 90/10 rule which requires for-profit institutions from having no more than 90% of their revenue from federal financial aid, including veterans' education benefits. In the House version of the bill just passed they propose restructuring higher education by abolishing subsidized loans, meaning students will only be able to borrow unsubsidized loans which accrue interest the moment a student begins their term in college! Additionally they propose abolishing parent PLUS loans which has been a key tool that has permitted Black Americans to attain higher education. They even create a disciplinary system to further indebt universities – universities will be financially liable for student debt of students in “high risk” degrees in humanities, education, art and other cultural or caring professions, putting these programs (and the important social services they offer) in jeopardy. I am emailing you to highlight these important protections and ask you to commit to not voting for a budget reconciliation bill which removes any of the important protections listed above. And will you commit to making a statement about these horrendous cuts! Instead we should work to ensure students aren't indebted for an education!