Congress returns today after a weeklong recess period to begin a four-week work schedule leading into the August recess. The next four weeks will focus largely on FY14 spending bills. But this week the Senate Democrats will certainly attempt to reverse an interest rate hike on federal student loans that kicked in July 1st and House Republicans will launch multiple inquiries into the Obama administration’s July 2nd decision to delay the part of the health-care law requiring employers with 50 or more full-time workers to pay a penalty if they do not offer health insurance. Prepare for a lot of partisan messaging coming out of these two issues. Continue reading “Congress Back to Work this Week”
Category: Budget
Federally Subsidized Student Loan Rates Double Today
Congress adjourned last week for the 4th of July recess without passing legislation to halt the rise of student loan interest rates. That means that today the interest rate on Federally Subsidized student loans doubles from 3.4% to 6.8%. The rate hike is expected to affect 7 million students and will add an average of $3,000 on a $23,000 loan over the 10-year repayment period.
Senate Reports Student Loan Progress
Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House are reporting progress in negotiations to a student loan interest rate fix. A group of Democratic senators, including Jack Reed RI), Joe Manchin III (WV), and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, along with independent Angus King (ME), have been conferring with Senate Republicans over the past 24 hours.
The plan, which is broadly based on the president’s budget proposal, may be finalized as soon as this week, according to one of the principal negotiators. All that is known at this time is that the proposal calls for shifting from the current 3.4 percent fixed interest rate to a market-driven variable interest rate. While the White House, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan and chief economic advisor Gene Sperling, have been kept in the loop about the negotiations, there is no word that the Senate is talking to the House.
Meanwhile, the House continues to debate both the Farm Bill and an abortion measure.
House Proceeds on Farm Bill as White House Threatens Veto
The House will begin consideration of the Farm Bill (HR 1947) today and finish consideration on Thursday. While the House Rules Committee is still determining which amendments will be made in order, 220 amendments have been submitted to the Rules Committee.The House Rules Committee has proceeded with a rare two day consideration of the rule to determine which amendments should be made in order. The bulk of these amendments pertain to the SNAP program.
Continue reading “House Proceeds on Farm Bill as White House Threatens Veto”
Federal Update
Congress has just two weeks before the July 4th recess week to tackle several major legislative issues. This week, the House will try to pass a five-year farm bill that contains controversial dairy policies and cuts to food stamps. It will also revive the abortion debate over a bill to ban certain abortions. In the Senate, appropriators will decide allocation levels for their twelve FY14 spending bills, and the full Senate will look for a compromise on border security that could improve prospects for immigration reform legislation (S 744).
Both the House and Senate will also continue to debate the best way to deal with student loan interest rates and the rates for subsidized Stafford student loans is scheduled to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1st. There are several proposals out there but none that have the support necessary to get approval in both chambers.