Full Text of HR0688 101st General Assembly
HR0688 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve, 54% of Americans | 3 | | who went to college took on some form of debt in order to do so; | 4 | | and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Over 45 million people in the United States | 6 | | collectively owe more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, | 7 | | making it the second highest form of consumer debt, behind only | 8 | | home mortgages, and higher than credit card debt and auto loan | 9 | | debt; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Student loans have a higher delinquency rate than | 11 | | credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages; the delinquency rate | 12 | | (90 days or more overdue) for student loans is 10.85%; | 13 | | comparatively, the delinquency rate for auto loans is 4.69%, | 14 | | and the delinquency rate for credit cards is 8.32%; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Over 1.5 million student loan borrowers in the | 16 | | State of Illinois have a collective balance of $49 billion in | 17 | | student loans, with a student loan delinquency rate (90+ days | 18 | | delinquent) of 11.4%; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Student loan debt has caused great division | 20 | | between Americans; the average debt for African American | 21 | | bachelor's degree recipients was $34,000, compared to $30,000 |
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| 1 | | for white bachelor's recipients and just under $25,000 for | 2 | | Hispanic and Asian bachelor's recipients; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, African American students who complete a | 4 | | bachelor's degree are more likely to struggle to repay their | 5 | | loans, and 12 years later, the typical African American student | 6 | | who entered college in 2003 and who completed a bachelor's | 7 | | degree owed 114% of what they originally borrowed, compared to | 8 | | 47% for white graduates; additionally, 49% of African American | 9 | | students who borrowed for their undergraduate education | 10 | | defaulted on a federal student loan, representing the highest | 11 | | default of all borrowers; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Student loan debt has created a clear divide among | 13 | | all gendered people; for example, women hold nearly two-thirds | 14 | | of the outstanding student debt in the United States, almost | 15 | | $929 billion as of early 2019 according to studies; the burden | 16 | | of student debt is compounded by existing and intersecting | 17 | | inequalities, women working full time with college degrees make | 18 | | 26% less than their male counterparts; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, One year after graduating, female college | 20 | | graduates working full time are paid 18% less than their male | 21 | | peers; by four years after graduation, that gap widens to 20%; | 22 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, A 2019 Federal Reserve study found that student | 2 | | loan debt is linked to over 20% of the decline in | 3 | | homeownership, which is recognized as one of the most important | 4 | | ways to build wealth; homeownership has returned to 50-year | 5 | | lows, and the African American homeownership rate in 2019 was | 6 | | as low as it was when the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968; | 7 | | and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Research from the National Association of | 9 | | Realtors revealed that 61% of millennials said they have | 10 | | delayed buying a house because of student loan debt, with the | 11 | | average student loan borrower delaying the purchase of their | 12 | | first home by an average of seven years; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Student loan servicers are a critical link in | 14 | | determining whether borrowers will have a pathway towards | 15 | | paying off their debt or be continually rolled into one | 16 | | unaffordable payment after another; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Without strong federal and state guidelines, | 18 | | servicers have engaged in a range of abusive practices that | 19 | | include misapplying student loan payments in ways which | 20 | | maximize fees to the servicer and placing borrowers into plans | 21 | | that delay the debt rather than repay it; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Education has recently |
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| 1 | | signaled that it is willing to make it easier for servicers of | 2 | | federal student loan debt to operate with less oversight and | 3 | | fewer protections for students by rolling back existing federal | 4 | | guidance and by seeking to thwart states' rights to protect | 5 | | students in their own states against student loan abuses; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Several states have already begun to take | 7 | | legislative and enforcement actions related to unfair and | 8 | | deceptive practices of student loan servicers; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 10 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 11 | | we urge the United States Congress to recognize outstanding | 12 | | student debt as a crisis for Americans seeking an education | 13 | | that endangers the well-being of Americans and to work to | 14 | | develop and enact legislation that will forgive student loans | 15 | | for all current student loan borrowers and prevent future | 16 | | students from shouldering an insurmountable burden of debt; and | 17 | | be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 | | delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S. | 20 | | Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the | 21 | | U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives | 22 | | Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | 23 | | Delegation.
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