Sen. Elizabeth Warren at SXSW. (Photo: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is partnering with House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., to introduce legislation that will eliminate up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans. The legislation would cancel the debt of 75% of borrowers — there are currently about 45 million owing a total $1.5 trillion — and offer relief to another 20% or so.
The two lawmakers said they will introduce legislation in both houses of Congress in the coming weeks. The bills will include enabling student loan debtors to get loan bankruptcy relief for any remaining student debt post-cancellation, which current law does not allow, unlike almost all other forms of personal debt.
No details of the plan are available yet, but Warren, who's running for the Democratic nomination for president, had announced previously that her plan would eliminate up to $50,000 in student loan debt for every person whose household income was less than $100,000 and eliminate less for borrowers with incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. She proposed an increase in taxes for the wealthiest American families and corporations to help fund the forgiveness program.
"The student debt crisis is real and it's crushing millions of people — especially people of color," Warren said in a statement. It has meant "a lifetime of student loan repayments" for "far too many students and families," Clyburn said in that same statement.
Warren previously pegged the cost of her student loan forgiveness plan at $1.25 trillion over 10 years, which would be financed by a 2% annual tax on assets over $50 billion and 3% on assets over $1 billion. Her wealth tax would raise $2.75 trillion over 10 years and used for other programs besides student debt relief.
