Albany Calls On Washington To Forgive Student Loans

It is amazing that the city council of Albany becomes an unlikely champion for student loans forgiveness. I visited the website of the City of Albany hoping to find the press release about the student loans move. However, could not find any information.

Instead, New York Times reports that the council on Monday night voted 12 to 0 in favor of a resolution that “urges the federal government to consider forgiving student loans as part of a stimulus package for young people and to move forward on reforming the student loan process.”

An email that came to my mailbox from Robert Applebaum who is the Founder & Executive Director of www.forgivestudentloandebt.com reads the following. "Thanks to the leadership of Councilman Jim Sano, the Albany Common Council unanimously passed a resolution last night calling on Washington to consider student loan forgiveness as a means of economic stimulus! While I couldn't be happier about the news, this is only the beginning. Ultimately, Congress will have to weigh in on the issue and, to get their attention, we need to repeat this success all over the country."

Bellow is the Resolution of the Albany City Council on student loans. It's reprinted from NY Times.

RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL CALLING UPON CONGRESS TO OFFER PROGRAMS TO REDUCE STUDENT LOAN DEBT AS AN ECONOMIC STIMULUS TOOL

WHEREAS, the cost of higher education has risen faster than the average starting salaries, leaving many new college graduates with student debt which exceeds their ability to pay; and

WHEREAS, student loan repayment can be difficult for young people starting off their careers and has become even more challenging now with the economic downturn, as recent graduates lose their jobs or struggle to land gainful employment. Graduates confront unaffordable monthly payments, loans that are nearly impossible to discharge, and restrictive loan repayment plans; and

WHEREAS, there were nearly $131 billion in outstanding private loans in 2008. In addition, there is $544 billion in outstanding federal loans for fiscal year 2009, up from $502 billion in 2008, according to the Education Department. The average debts of students graduating with loans rose from $18,796 in 2006 to $20,098 in 2007, according to the Project on Student Debt; and

WHEREAS, forgiving private and federal student loans should be greatly expanded in exchange for service in all public sector jobs, so as to better utilize these degrees and experience especially in our most disadvantaged sectors. The time frame for public service should be proportional to the amount of debt asking to be forgiven; and

WHEREAS, forgiving student loan debt would have a stimulating effect on the economy. Responsible people who did nothing other than pursue a higher education would have hundreds, if not thousands of extra dollars per month to spend, fueling the economy. As a result, tax revenues would go up, the credit markets will unfreeze and jobs will be created; and

WHEREAS, in order to stop this cycle of destructive student debt we also urge Congress to examine the following: repealing the exception to bankruptcy discharge of private, governmentally-guaranteed and government education loans; increasing Pell Grant funding; aligning the definition of total and permanent disability discharge with the Social Security definition of a disability; requiring mandatory financial literacy training for all college students; and mandating improvements in loan counseling; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Albany urges the federal government to consider forgiving student loans as part of a stimulus package for young people and to move forward on reforming the student loan process.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution, suitably endorsed, be transmitted to United States Senators Kristen Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and United States Representative Paul Tonko.