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Congressman Donald M. Payne - Proudly Serving New Jersey's 10th Congressional District

Press Releases

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"Congressman Payne has paid special attention to a number of issues including the welfare of children, the state of our environment, and the health of our nation."

For Immediate Release
April 17, 2008
Contact: Kerry McKenney/Nkechi Mbanu
(202) 225-3436
 
 
Payne Supports Bill to Ensure Continued Access to Federal Student Loans for American Families
 

Congressman Donald M. Payne, a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, today joined a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to approve legislation to ensure that the turmoil in the U.S. financial markets does not keep students and families from accessing the federal student loans they need to pay for college. The Ensuring Continued Access to Federal Student Loans Act of 2008 (H.R. 5715), which carries no new cost for taxpayers, was passed by a vote of 383 - 27.
Payne asserted, “The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (H.R. 5715) would provide new protections, in addition to those that already exist under current law, to ensure that families continue to have timely, uninterrupted access to federal college loans in the event that the stress in the credit markets leads a significant number of lenders to substantially reduce their activity in the federally guaranteed student loan program.”

H.R. 5715 would:

  •  Reduce borrowers’ reliance on costlier private college loans by increasing the annual loan limits on federal college loans by $2,000 for undergraduate students, and by increasing the aggregate (the total loan limit over the course of a student’s education) loan limits to $31,000 for dependent undergraduates and $57,500 for independent undergraduates; 
  • Give parent borrowers more time to begin paying off their federal PLUS loans by providing them with the option to defer repayment until up to six months after their children leave school – giving families more flexibility in hard economic times.  
  • Help struggling homeowners pay for college by making sure that short-term delinquencies in mortgage payments don’t prohibit otherwise eligible parents from being able to borrow parent PLUS loans. Under current law, parents with an adverse credit history are ineligible to receive a parent PLUS loan, except under extenuating circumstances. The legislation would temporarily classify as an extenuating circumstance delinquencies on home mortgages of up to 180 days, therefore making it possible for parents who are being strained by the current housing market to secure loans for their children; 
  • Clarify that existing law gives the U.S. Education Secretary the authority to advance federal funds to guaranty agencies in the event that they do not have sufficient capital to originate new loans, and allow guaranty agencies to carry out the functions of lender of last resort on a school-wide basis. Under the Higher Education Act, these guaranty agencies are obligated to serve as a nationwide network of lenders of last resort if requested to do so by the Education Secretary; and
  • Give the U.S. Education Secretary the temporary authority to purchase loans from lenders in the federal guaranteed loan program, ensuring that lenders continue to have access to capital to originate new loans. The Education Department would be authorized to purchase loans only if doing so would not result in a net cost for the federal government.

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Washington, DC Office
2209 Rayburn House Office Building · Washington, District of Columbia 20515
Phone: (202)-225-3436    Fax: (202)-225-4160
District Offices
50 Walnut Street, Suite 1016
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Phone: (973)-645-3213 · Fax: (973)-645-5902
333 North Broad Street
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208
Phone: (908)-629-0222 ·
Fax: (908)-629-0221
253 Martin Luther King Drive
Jersey City, New Jersey 07305
Phone: (201)-369-0392 · Fax: (201)-369-0395