Black and Latinx Legislative Caucus- Listening Session
This November, Hildreth Institute joined Zero Debt Massachusetts, in attending the community listening session hosted by the Massachusetts Black and Latinx legislative caucus. Before opening up the session for comments, the caucus made everyone aware of the bills that they considered a “priority.” To our astonishment, the Student Loan Bill of Rights was not mentioned. Despite the known racial disparities between student loan borrowers and the alarming trend in which the federal government is systematically failing at overseeing student loan servicing agencies and protecting student loan borrowers.
Watch our team advocate for a student loan bill of rights in Massachusetts!
Black and brown borrowers, despite similar income levels, are borrowing nearly $8000 more on average than white borrowers to finance their education. That inequality only widens after graduation; it is detrimental to ignore that those predatory loan servicers (who are known to steer borrowers in the wrong direction) have a part to play in that increase. As it is also a fact that Black and Latinx borrowers are more often the victims of predatory actions done onto them from both their colleges and their loan servicers.
Student loan servicers have “openly admitted that they feel no obligation to act in the interest of the consumer.” In essence, student loan borrowers do not have adequate customer services nor do they have strong consumer protections, instead, they are exploited, and the federal government is refusing to take action against them; what are states to do? Many have responded with passing protection bills; those states include Rhode Island, New York, Maine, Maryland, Colorado, and Nevada. Others are fighting hard for a state-wide student loan bill of rights.
Currently, the student loan bill of rights- H.3977. is stuck in the house ways and means. Almost half of the members of the Black and Latinx legislative caucus hold positions on this committee those include: Russell E. Holmes, Carlos González, Andres X. Vargas, Bud L. Williams, Chynah Tyler, José F. Tosado.
Our own Student Loan Bill of Rights would ensure that every Massachusetts borrower receives robust consumer protection and effective assistance. It is creating adequate oversight to ensure that the student loan industry is helping borrowers, not its profit margins. Help Massachusetts pass a student loan bill of rights, let’s ensure that borrowers have the protections that every other consumer group has. To urge your representative to support this important bill: click here.
