This page contains bill sponsorships in the Senate and House. Bill sponsorships indicate the topics that legislators are most interested in, and spend the most time on.

13-S707 on Apr 11, 2013

Proponent's argument for bill:(US PIRG press release): The Student Loan Affordability Act keeps interest rates affordable for students over the next two years. If Congress fails to act by July 1, interest rates on federal Subsidized Stafford Loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8%. That would hike the cost of college by $1,000 per student, per loan, for over 7 million students across the country. The bill pays for extending the current interest rates through 2015 by closing three non-education tax loopholes.

Opponent's argument against bill:(Rep. Tom Cotton, R-AR): Unfortunately, too many students today struggle for years to repay their loans because Washington politicians dictate student-loan rates and end up hurting students and taxpayers alike. It's causing tuition costs to skyrocket, leaving students buried in debt, often without jobs, and forced to delay buying a home and starting a family. As students struggle to repay their loans--regardless of the interest rate--taxpayers are on the hook for a $100 billion bailout--a burden hard-working Arkansans shouldn't have to bear. A better path is to let Arkansas's hometown banks work with students and families to finance higher education, just as they do with homes, farms, businesses, and other loans. I'm committed to bringing affordable higher education to every Arkansan and ending the federal-government monopoly on the student-lending business.

Also see the related House of Representatives bill H.R.1433

Participating counts on VoteMatch question 7. Question 7: Vouchers for school choice Scores: -2=Strongly oppose; -1=Oppose; 0=neutral; 1=Support; 2=Strongly support.
• Topic: Education
• Headline: Sponsored extending subsidized federal student loan rates until 2015 (Score: -1)
• Headline 2: Extend subsidized federal student loan rates until 2015 (Score: -1)
  
  Participating counts on AmericansElect question 6.
• Headline: Sponsored extending subsidized federal student loan rates until 2015 (Answer: C)
• Headline 2: Extend subsidized federal student loan rates until 2015 (Answer: C)
• AmericansElect Quiz Question 6 on Education: When you think about education in the US, which of the following is closest to your opinion?
  • A: School curriculums should be set entirely at a local school board level
  • B: School curriculums should be set more by local school boards than at a national level
  • C: School curriculums should be set more by national standards than at a local level
  • D: School curriculums should be set entirely at a national standardized level
  • E: Unsure
  
  
  
• Key for participation codes:
• Sponsorships: p=sponsored; o=co-sponsored; s=signed
• Memberships: c=chair; m=member; e=endorsed; f=profiled; s=scored
• Resolutions: i=introduced; w=wrote; a=adopted
• Cases: w=wrote; j=joined; d=dissented; c=concurred
• Surveys: '+' supports; '-' opposes.