Kansas Republicans wrong to oppose Student Aid Reform

This week President Obama signed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. This common-sense reform that will generate an estimated $80 billion in savings by bypassing for-profit lenders in the loan process and will instead provide loans directly to students. This reform makes government more efficient and invests the savings in the education of young Americans without raising taxes or adding to the deficit, this is the largest investment in higher education in history that will put the country on track to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

However the Kansas Republican delegation continues to put the interests of Wall Street, banks, and lenders ahead of the interest of Kansas students and their families. This law will not only make college more affordable but it will also save taxpayers billions of dollars.

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will eliminate wasteful subsidies to private bankers by switching to a system of direct lending of federal student loans.

It will make historic investments in America’s workforce by making college dramatically more affordable – at no cost to taxpayers. I will invest $36 billion over 10 years to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2017. It will reduce the deficit by $68 billion over the next 11 years and meets Pay-As-You-Go fiscally responsible principles.

By standing against this law Lynn Jenkins, Todd Tiahrt, Jerry Moran and Sam Brownback have once again turned their backs on the Kansans they represent. Once again their talk of Kansas values and fiscal responsibility has proven to be nothing but empty words.

It’s unfortunate they don't support a law that will make government more efficient and effective, will allow more Kansans to pursue higher education at lower cost, and allow Kansan families to keep more of their money.

Colin Curtis
State President
Kansas Young Democrats