FAIR Act Brings Clarity to Student Loan Borrowers, Protects Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT), Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced H.R. 4144, the Federal Assistance to Initiate Repayment (FAIR) Act, which takes a critical step towards addressing the failures of the student loan program by providing a fair, responsible path back to repayment for 40 million borrowers.

Following the introduction of the FAIR Act, Reps. Owens, McClain, and Foxx said: “As the rest of the country was reeling from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden saw an opportunity to ram through his free college agenda. With extension after extension, the Biden administration turned a short-term payment pause on student loans during the height of the pandemic into a three-year-long pause that cost American taxpayers billions to prop up.

“The President’s radical guidance and reckless executive orders have left schools, servicers, and students uncertain about the future. The pandemic is over, and borrowers need concrete guidance on a pathway forward to repayment.

“The FAIR Act is a fiscally responsible, targeted response to the chaos caused by Biden’s student loan scam. This Republican solution takes important steps to fix the broken student loan system, provide borrowers with clear guidance on repayment, and protect taxpayers from the economic fallout caused by the administration’s radical free college agenda.” 
 
Specifically, H.R. 4144, the FAIR Act:

• Provides targeted student loan relief to those who made years of payments but saw their debt explode due to Democrats’ poorly designed repayment policies;
• Allows defaulted borrowers to get back on track to repayment by giving them a second chance to rehabilitate their loans and enroll in an affordable repayment plan;
• Ends the Biden administration’s student loan scam and prevents ED from issuing costly and expansive regulations, including the President’s radical IDR proposal costing $276 billion over the next decade; and,
• Ensures a smooth transition back into repayment by offering repayment assistance to borrowers in financial distress and requiring ED and the Office of Federal Student Aid to provide ample guidance to servicers.

For bill text, click here.
For a section-by-section summary, click here.
For the Committee’s fact sheet, click here.

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