Fellow Conservative,

Good education policy both at the state and federal level is vital to America’s future generations.

The current state of play is mixed with disastrous policies coming from the federal government, and opportunities to advance conservative policies at the state level.
The Cost of College Education
Prior to the midterm elections, Biden made a blatant political ploy for votes by promising to erase up to $20K in student debt for millions of borrowers. This plan was completely unjust <[link removed]>, financially unviable <[link removed]>, and legally unsound <[link removed]>.

Now, the Biden Administration has officially proposed a rule that would make significant changes to how federal loans are repaid. While it is a deviation from Biden’s original promise (which was pure political pandering) there are still major problems with the proposed rule.
>>>Submit your comment HERE<<< <[link removed]>
This repayment plan will only encourage universities to raise tuition <[link removed]> in the near future which will harm incoming college students the most.

Currently, income-driven repayment plan (IDR) borrowers pay about 10% of their discretionary income over about 20 years, and whatever’s left—including all accrued interest—is forgiven.

But the new rules dramatically change the calculus:



- Payments are generally cut in half from 10% to 5% of income
- The payment period before forgiveness is cut in half from 20 years to 10 years
- The income under which payments are reduced to $0 is raised from 150% to 225% of the poverty line
- All payments, including “payments” of $0, trigger cancellation of that month’s interest.




Essentially, this repayment scheme would cost the taxpayer well over $100 billion and it is completely unfair to those who repaid their loans, who worked their way through college to avoid debt, who did not go to college because of the cost, or who joined the military for tuition assistance.

This bailout of big education must not go unchallenged. Until February 10th, YOU have the ability to STOP BIDEN’S BAILOUT by submitting a public comment <[link removed]> opposing this gross overreach of power.

Your comments can be used by courts as justification for striking down the rule if it goes into effect, and if there is enough public pressure, it can be withdrawn before it even gets implemented.

DON’T WAIT! Submit a comment NOW <[link removed]> and share the link with your friends.
Education Freedom
In 2022, The Heritage Foundation released the Education Freedom Report Card <[link removed]> which ranked every state from #1 - #51 (D.C. is included) on their level of education freedom.

>>>See how your state ranked HERE<<< <[link removed]>
States are now looking to improve their education freedom through a variety of approaches. Here are some of the most notable ones so far…

Florida:

Florida was already highly rated in education freedom because of its Family Empowerment Scholarship program which granted tremendous flexibility for parents to customize their children’s education.

Now, H.B. 1 <[link removed]> has been introduced that would convert this program into an Education Savings Account (ESA) and permit even greater flexibility for parents and students, as well as greater savings. To learn more, read Heritage Action’s press release <[link removed]> on this bill.
Arizona

Last year the Grand Canyon State passed perhaps the most expansive ESA program in the country. In this program, funding follows the student, not the system.

Now, Arizona seeks to continue to improve schools by passing S.B. 1001 <[link removed]>. This bill would protect parental rights by requiring all public school employees to call students by their given names and the pronouns associated with their biological sex unless given direct permission from the student’s parents or legal guardian.
Contact your state representative and tell them to support S.B. 1001.


Utah

The Beehive state is also introducing their own version of education freedom in the form of H.B. 215 <[link removed]>. This bill would open up scholarships for parents to access and use to send their children to alternative education options that were previously either unavailable or unaffordable.

Heritage Action supports this effort that would allow parents to choose the education institution that best fits their child’s individual needs.

Other states to watch

Other states are also moving to improve their education freedom. States to watch are Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Ohio. As these bills advance, Heritage Action will be watching, lobbying, and issuing press statements <[link removed]> to help advance expanding options for students and families across the states.
Jessica Anderson - In the News
Jessica Anderson made the rounds last week appearing on both OAN as well as EWTN to talk about emerging hot-button issues.

Spreading the message on OAN, Jessica talked with Addison Smith about how people can submit public comments in opposition to Biden’s student loan repayment scheme.
>>>Click HERE to watch the full interview<<< <[link removed]>
She also joined Tracy Sabol of EWTN to discuss Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and the questions House Republicans should ask now that they are in the majority..
>>>Watch the full video HERE<<< <[link removed]>
But even more than that, Jessica appeared on EWTN to express Heritage Action’s support for Pro-Life legislation and our commitment to work to create a culture of life in the United States.
Every life matters, and Heritage Action remains committed to making sure that is realized at every level of government.

Thank you for your continued engagement.

Jessica and the Heritage Action team
Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.

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