Cohen, Pelosi, Courtney, House Democrats Reintroduce Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) joined Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-08) and several other House Democratic Representatives in cosponsoring the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act of 2015, which Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) reintroduced this week. This bill would allow borrowers with high interest rates on their existing public and private student loans to refinance at lower interest rates similar to those available to new student loan borrowers. According to U.S. Department of Education 2014 estimates, 483,000 Tennesseans with federal student loans stand to benefit from reduced interest rates if this legislation becomes law.
“As the father of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship, which has provided more than $3 billion to help our state’s young people attend college, I’ve always worked hard to ensure that higher education remains affordable for students and families,” said Congressman Cohen. “And I am pleased to join Leader Pelosi and Congressman Courtney in reigniting this effort to provide student debt relief to nearly half a million hard-working, responsible Tennesseans.”
The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act of 2015 would allow borrowers of undergraduate student loans to refinance at an interest rate of 3.86 percent, compared to the interest rates as high as 8 percent some Americans currently have on their existing loans. Nationwide, the Department of Education estimates 25 million borrowers would benefit from the bill. Under the bill, a typical participating borrower would save $2,000 over the life of his or her loan.
Last year, Republicans voted to block bringing up this student loan refinancing bill in the House and filibustered the bill in the Senate.