By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – Illinois’ Senior Senator is working with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to pass bankruptcy reform for student loan borrowers.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said student loan borrowers range in ages.
“45 million Americans carry student loan debt, and they’re not just young people. Eight million are over the age of 50. Some are now learning that their Social Security checks are being garnished to pay the debt. These are loans are with you for life.”
Senator Durbin added that student loan bankruptcy is often the last resort for students misled by for-profit schools that “fail to provide an adequate education.”
“It is virtually impossible to get relief from student loans. Why? Because student loans are one of the very few types of debt that are accepted from discharged in bankruptcy. The concept of bankruptcy is a clean start but not if you’re dealing with child support, alimony, over-due taxes, criminal fines, and criminal loans,” Durbin said before the committee.
45 million Americans carry student loan debt. 8 million are over the age of 50. These loans can stay with you for life.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can give struggling borrowers relief through bankruptcy. We can give them the fresh start they need. pic.twitter.com/CEepNorNhM
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) August 3, 2021
AG Raoul said as Attorney General, he has worked to hold for-profit schools and bac actors in the student lending industry accountable.
“State’s need the federal government’s support to help borrowers obtain relief. I am appealing to Congress to pass bankruptcy reform that will give student borrowers at least the same protections already enjoyed by the schools that broke their word.”
At the end of 2020, student loan debt topped $1.7 trillion.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
