Usually, when President Biden announces plans to provide relief on student loan debt, it’s a general one with no specificity—but on Monday, he said that his Plan B that was canceled by the Supreme Court last year was getting a do-over and will provide “significant relief” for Black and Latino borrowers.
This is the kind of good news indebted African Americans, who relied heavily on the loans and take longer to repay them, have been waiting for.
Among those cheering the fresh initiative is Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), who said the action is “a powerful testament to the borrowers across the nation who fought for economic justice and continued to make the case for student debt, despite obstruction from the Supreme Court and Republicans. While we will continue to press for continued action that meets the scale of the crisis, this is a historic day and today’s announcement sets us on a path for over 30 million borrowers and their families to receive life-changing student debt relief this year.”
Her sentiments were echoed by Wisdom Cole, national director of the NAACP’s youth and college division. She told theGrio that the president’s new plan “is a step in the right direction.”
Biden’s renewed plan, as expected, has been met by mounting opposition on the right, including an increased welter of lawsuits. At the moment, 11 states have sued the Biden administration over the plan.
“The President does not get to thwart the Constitution when it suits his political agenda. I’m filing suit to halt his embarrassing attempt to buy the 2024 election in direct violation of the law. The Constitution will continue to mean something as long as I’m Attorney General,” said Andrew Bailey of Missouri.
As has been stressed in the past by Bailey and his cohort, Biden’s plan is “illegal and would cost American taxpayers $475 billion.”
Even if these complaints fail to gain any traction, there remains the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, and once more, it’s nail-biting time for millions of debtors as they wait for the next shoe to fall.