Tackling Student Loan Debt
This week in the Missouri Capitol, I presented a new piece of legislation to the Senate Education Committee. Senate Bill 1119 deals with state loan forgiveness requirements for public employees.
The bill addressing student loan forgiveness for public employees received support and no opposition when it was presented to the Education Committee. The Senate bill would require the Department of Higher Education to create guidelines for public employers to notify their employees and potential employees about available student loan forgiveness options. Under this legislation, public employers would have to adopt some sort of policy that provides current, accurate information to new hires within the first 10 days of employment. During SB 1119’s Education Committee hearing, Otto Fagen, legislative director for the Missouri National Education Association (NEA) testified in support of the bill and helped me explain why the this legislation is a good step forward for our state’s public employees.
This legislation aims to inform our state’s teachers and public employees, so that they can better manage their student loan debt, and know the options available to them. According to the NEA, over 42 million people in the United States have student loan debt. In Missouri alone, 909,000 citizens struggle with some amount of debt – the average of which is nearly $25,000. Our state’s educators average almost double that amount in debt from student loans. This unacceptably large amount of debt stops nearly 1 million Missourians from being able to afford houses, purchase cars or start new business ventures.
There are multiple efforts the Legislature could undertake to help Missourians be better informed and assisted to handle their student loans. I think SB 1119 is a great first step, as it would ensure that every public employee would be made aware of the options available to them, rather than finding this information out after years of working and struggling to make ends meet. I hope to see it move to the full Senate floor for debate and passage in the near future.
Senate Bill 1085, which I’ve discussed in a previous column, was also heard in the Senate Education Committee. The bill deals with sexual violence prevention on college campuses, and I am confident it will be voted out of committee and onto the Senate floor for debate.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.
Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District.