Latest news with #CommitteeonEducationandWorkforce
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Huge changes to monthly student loan repayments under new Republican plan
House Republicans have unveiled their plan to change how millions of Americans pay back their student loan debt. The move, which will upend Obama and Biden-era policies, comes as the Trump administration has vowed no 'mass loan forgiveness'. The administration is also gearing up to garnish people's wages starting May 5 if they have defaulted on their student loans. The GOP framework officially repeals former President Joe Biden 's SAVE plan, which offered lower monthly payments than any other income-driven repayment plan. It also massively simplifies how people repay federal student loans. According to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz there are currently 12 ways to make payments on student loans, some of which are holdovers from the Obama administration. Republicans want to narrow it down to two options. Under their plan, borrowers would be able to pay back their debt with fixed payments over the next 10 to 25 years, or through a new income-driven repayment plan called the 'Repayment Assistance Plan.' Under RAP borrowers' monthly payments would be set as a share of their income. For instance, if someone makes between $10,000 and $20,000, they would be obligated to pay 1 percent of that toward their loans. At the higher end of the scale people with incomes of $100,000 or more would have to pay 10 percent. Students who took out loans before July 1, 2026, will still have access to the myriad of repayment plans. The new changes Republicans are proposing will only affect people who take out loans after that date. Economist Jason Delisle, a nonresident senior fellow at the Urban Institute, recently put together his best estimate of what a single-person household would end up paying every month. Delisle compared the House Republican concept to the income-based repayment plan passed under former President Barack Obama. People making $30,000 all the way up to $70,000 would actually pay less each month under the GOP plan, according to Delisle. The only groups who would have to pay more are those bring in no income, those who make $20,000 a year and people who earn upwards of $100,000. The Republicans also want to put strict caps on how much individuals can take out in debt, limiting undergraduates and graduate students to $50,000 and $100,000, respectively. Not only that but colleges and universities will be required to pay 'a portion of their students' unpaid loans based on how much of a return on investment the degree provided.' The legislation came out of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, chaired by Rep Tim Walberg (R-Mich), and is set to be included in the massive reconciliation bill that is still taking shape. Reconciliation is a legislative process that allows certain bills to pass in the Senate with just a 51-vote majority, bypassing the filibuster which requires a 60-vote supermajority. House Speaker Mike Johnson has set a goal of passing the reconciliation package, which Trump calls his 'big beautiful bill,' by Memorial Day and sending it to the Senate. Another key component of the education plan is that it purports to cut $330 billion in federal spending, a measure taken to finance the extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts. The education committee's ranking member, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), attacked the proposal as a giveaway to the wealthy during the committee markup on Tuesday. 'This current reconciliation plan would increase costs for colleges and students, limit students' access to quality programs … and then take the so-called 'savings' to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy and the well-connected,' Scott said. Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would lead to a $4.5 trillion decrease in federal revenue over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The foundation also found that even though GDP would rise 1.1 percent, that would only offset $710 billion in losses, which is why Republicans are eager to find areas of spending to cut. Finding new revenue sources can also offset the decline in tax money, and a major source will soon become the more than 42.7 million student loan borrowers - who owe a collective $1.6 trillion. More than 5 million have not made a payment in the past year, according to the Department of Education. That number is expected to grow as an additional 4 million borrowers are approaching default status.
CBS News
18-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Northern Michigan lawmaker seeks forgiveness for ice storm-related school closings
A Michigan state representative has presented a bill seeking forgiveness of missed school days in a region that was hit hard by the March 28-30 ice storm . Some school districts in Northern Lower Michigan were out of session for two weeks in the aftermath because the resulting power outages were so widespread and extensive. Gaylord Community Schools, for example, posted on social media that it welcomed its students back on April 14. Cleanup and recovery efforts are still in progress. State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-District 106, presented his plan Thursday via House Bill 4345 , which has been referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce. The bill would remove minimum school hours and day requirements during the current school year for any county included in a state of emergency declared by the governor. Without such relief, Cavitt said, some schools might have to stay in session until July. The list of counties, under a state declaration issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego and Presque Isle. Cavitt's district includes parts of Cheboygan, Alpena, Oscoda, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties. Whitmer has requested , but not received a formal answer yet, on a federal declaration of emergency over the ice storm. Some of the school districts in Northern Michigan were out of session for two weeks in early April – and that's not counting any weather emergencies from earlier in the year. Michigan schools do have some leeway in setting their academic calendars, but the state requires at least 1,098 hours and 180 days of student instruction. There is some wiggle room built in for emergency days off. Extensions that Michigan allowed to the emergency day allowance during previous severe winters were granted for those years only. One such example involved the additional days that were allowed in 2018-19. "We had over 190 inches of snow this year. We've got days of school to make up already," Katy Xenakis-Makowski, Superintendent of the Johannesburg-Lewiston School District and President of the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators, said in her statement on the matter. "Adding additional days after assessments, after Memorial Day, going past Father's Day and towards the Fourth of July will not help instruction. We need to be focused on the basic needs of our community and helping build our kids back up."
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School cell phone ban bill introduced in Michigan House
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Michigan House Republicans have reignited efforts to require public schools to crack down on students' use of cell phones, but it remains unclear where these efforts will lead. was introduced last Wednesday and specifically proposes restricting students' use of anything capable of text, email, internet access, voice communication, entertainment, or navigation. These restrictions differ based on student grade level: Students in grades K to 5 would be fully prohibited from having these devices on school grounds. Students in grades 6 to 8 are allowed to have them on school grounds but can not use them during instructional time, breaks between instructional time, lunch, or recess. Students in grades 9 to 12 would be banned from using them during instructional time only. A potential school cell phone ban was considered during the previous legislative session, but nothing was ever signed into law. This time, while the bill was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, no hearing dates have been set for lawmakers to get the ball rolling. State Rep. Mark Tisdel, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, says forcing students to check their devices at the classroom door will improve test scores and cut down on bullying and other mental health issues. A major obstacle to the bill? Safety concerns. Parents are worried that if their children's schools were targeted by an active shooter, they would not be able to contact them. However, while Tisdel sympathizes with these concerns, he claims children are actually safer if their parents are not on the phone with them. 'How does that enhance your child's safety?' says Tisdel. 'You want your child's focus on the trained teacher at the head of the classroom.' The effort failed last year, but Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is on board. Several schools in Mid-Michigan have moved to restrict cell phone usage independently of any legislation, including Lansing School District, East Lansing School District, and Williamston Community Schools. 44% of all schools have some policy in place for both middle and high school students. 2025-HIB-4141Download Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
