Americans for Prosperity Letter of Support for CRA Against Biden’s Income-Driven Repayment Plan

Dec 7, 2023 by AFP

September 14, 2023

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of Americans for Prosperity and our more than 3 million activists across all 50 states, I write in support of the CRA resolution overturning the Biden Administration’s misguided income-driven “repayment” plan titled Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to “Improving Income Driven Repayment for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program” (H.J. Res. 88, S.J. Res. 43) introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Representative Lisa McClain (R-MI).

This resolution would overturn the latest effort of the Biden Administration to forgive student loan debt through what is already the most generous student loan plan in the world. Over the summer, Congress sent the administration a clear signal that Congress alone has the power of the purse and will not stand idly by while an unchecked executive branch tramples the Constitution. AFP supported that action and for the same reasons support this necessary resolution. AFP strongly supports this CRA resolution, and AFP urges you to co-sponsor it today.

Finalized in July, the Saving on a Valuable Education income-driven repayment plan or SAVE Plan should really be called the SPEND Plan. According to a Penn Wharton Budget Model report, this new plan will cost taxpayers between $475-558.8 billion over the next 10 years. And because Biden’s one-time student loan jubilee was struck down by the Supreme Court, it is likely the true cost will come in at the top end of the estimate.

Additionally, the Administration is engaged in false marketing when they trumpet SAVE as an income-driven repayment plan. In reality, the Administration’s newest student loan cancellation plan will result in many borrowers paying $0 a month toward their loans until the borrower’s balance is transferred to taxpayers, effectively turning the student loan program into a federal grant program.

Further, Biden’s IDR plan is another failed policy that does nothing to address the underlying causes of the student loan crisis: out-of-control growth in the cost of college. Since 1980, tuition has increased more than six times the rate that the average income has grown. This newest proposal will be one more failed taxpayer-funded subsidy intended to make college more affordable but with the opposite effect of increasing tuition for students and their families. The Biden plan will likely change borrowers’ behavior in profound ways, leading many students to borrow more than necessary, an assumption that is evident in CBO’s cost estimates of the plan, because taxpayers will ultimately foot a significant portion of the bill.

President Biden continues to overstep Constitutional guardrails to expand his statutory authority and forgive as much student debt as possible through sweeping changes to income-

driven repayment. Americans are already struggling to survive in Biden’s high inflation economy and taxpayers simply cannot afford to take on this additional debt. Congress must immediately intervene to rein in this administration’s unconstitutional attempt to spend hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars not appropriated by Congress.

We applaud Senator Cassidy and Representative McClain for their leadership on behalf of America’s taxpayers and we strongly urge you to co-sponsor their important CRA resolutions.

Sincerely,

Brent Gardner

Chief Government Affairs Officer

Americans for Prosperity

See PDF of letter HERE.