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HomeNewsRep. Courtney Introduces Zero Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act

Rep. Courtney Introduces Zero Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act

By Patrick Cassidy.

(May 7, 2021) NORWICH, CT—Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) introduced the Zero-Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act. The new legislation would allow Americans with public student loans to refinance their loans to an interest rate of 0% until December 31, 2024. Recently, the Federal Reserve Board and its Chairman Jerome Powell declared that the benchmark interest rate will remain at essentially zero for the balance of 2021, 2022, and well into 2023, a reflection of the continued economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Courtney’s bill would give public borrowers the same opportunity to take advantage of this low-rate environment that so many borrowers in other sectors of the economy will utilize. Upon introduction of the bill today, Courtney was joined by Representatives Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At-large), John Larson (CT-01), Joe Morelle (NY-25), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24) as original co-sponsors.

“Today’s jobs numbers should be a wake-up call to a lot of armchair economic experts that even though our recovery is moving forward, we’ve still got big challenges to overcome, and people still need support,” said Congressman Courtney. “That’s why President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, and it’s why the Federal Reserve has extended its zero-percent benchmark interest rate atmosphere well into 2023. That zero-percent benchmark will give financial breathing room to thousands of homeowners, small businesses and others, and it absolutely should—they need it. But so do working Americans with publicly held student loans who cannot refinance unless Congress changes the law. Student loan borrowers aren’t only young people just entering the economy—they’re moms and dads, small business owners, teachers and nurses, many of whom are trapped by law with legacy student loans with sky-high interest rates. They deserve the same opportunity to refinance their debt that so many Americans have right now, and the Zero-Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act would deliver that opportunity for them.”

In other sectors of the economy, mortgage holders, businesses, auto loan holders, and others have been able to seek relief from the COVID-19 economic fallout by refinancing their debt to historically low rates. However, unlike other borrowers, Americans with existing student debt haven’t been able to access the lowered rates since the beginning of the pandemic. Many older borrowers, including many millennials, who graduated from institutions of higher education ten or more years ago, are locked into rates of nearly 7%. The Zero-Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act would rectify this inequity and give student loan borrowers access to the low-rate environment that Americans in other sectors of the economy are taking advantage of.
Specifically, Rep. Courtney’s Zero-Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act would:
  • Allow student loan borrowers to refinance their federal loans to 0%  all eligible federal FFEL, Direct, Perkins, and Public Health Service Act student loan borrowers could refinance their high-interest loans down to 0% through December 31, 2024.
  • Automatically refinance debt for Direct loan holders.
 
Rep. Courtney has worked for years to give working Americans a fair deal on student loan debt, and during COVID-19 he led the effort in the House to give student loan borrowers access to the same lowered interest rates that so many others had taken advantage of. In July 2020, Courtney was joined by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in introducing the bicameral Bank on Students Coronavirus Emergency Loan Refinancing Act (H.R. 7449) to the previous 116th Congress. Click here to read more.
The Zero-Percent Student Loan Refinancing Act builds on that effort, and would ensure that working Americans with student loan debt are given the same boost from 0% interest rates that so many others are relying on to recover economically.
Sharon Challenger
Sharon Challenger
I am a professional Scenic Artist and have also worked as a Systems Analyst and Senior Programmer Analyst for the Travelers and Yale University. Education: Post University, Wesleyan University and Yale University School of Drama.

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