THE HILL — Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked an effort by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to attach an amendment aimed at lowering student loan rates to the budget.
Senators voted 46-53 against Warren’s amendment to the Republican budget resolution.
Warren’s amendment would have allowed people with college loan debt to refinance at interest rates from the 2013-2014 academic year. The Massachusetts Democrat, who is rejecting calls to run for president, said the move would allow undergraduates to refinance their loans to a 3.9 percent interest rate, with a “slightly higher” rate for graduate students.
“Millions of borrowers are still stuck paying interest rates at 6 percent, 8 percent, 10 percent and even higher,” she said.
Her plan would have been paid for by requiring millionaires to pay at least a 30 percent effective federal tax rate.
“The amendment would save borrowers hundreds, if not thousands,” Warren said. “We have a choice: protect a tax loophole for billionaires or give millions of middle class people a chance to build some real economic security. … Congress has worked too long for the billionaires.”
Read more at The Hill.
