CT Attorney General Calls For Student Debt Forgiveness Of $50K

CONNECTICUT — State Attorney General William Tong has joined a multi-state coalition of attorneys general calling for more student loan forgiveness.

The request comes in the form of a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging their support for Senate Resolution 46 and House Resolution 100. The resolutions both ask President Joe Biden to use executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in education debt per borrower.

The letter follows close on the heels of a CNN town hall Tuesday night, during which the president made clear he would not cancel student debt at the $50,000 level, but is "prepared to write off $10,000 in debt" if Congress presents him with the bill to sign. Biden said he was uncertain if he had the authority to forgive loans up to$50,000.

Tong said: "Cancelling up to $50,000 of student debt will be a lifeline to the millions of student loan borrowers struggling to make ends meet during the worst public health and economic crisis in recent times."

In their letter, the attorneys general say that cancelling federal student loan debt can substantially increase Black and Latinx household wealth and help close the racial wealth gap.

According to student loan finance site Student Loan Hero, forty-six percent of Americans think mass student loan forgiveness is unfair to former borrowers, more than 39 percent believe said it would be unfair to those who never had student loans.