22 Republican Governors Call on Biden to Withdraw Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

A group of Republican governors, led by Gov. Kim Reynolds, penned a letter to President Joe Biden on Sept. 12, saying his student loan forgiveness plan shifts the burden from the rich to “working Americans.”

The letter (pdf), signed by 22 governors, notes Biden’s unprecedented debt cancellation plan means every single American taxpayer will bear an extra burden of $2,000. The governors said the price was unaffordable for residents in their states amid sky-high inflation.

“As governors, we support making higher education more affordable and accessible for students in our states, but we fundamentally oppose your plan to force American taxpayers to pay off the student loan debt of an elite few–a plan that is estimated to cost the American taxpayer more than $2,000 each or $600 billion total, a price the people of our states cannot afford,” the group wrote.

Biden announced last month that he will forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individual borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year, or $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients meeting the same income standards.

If the ambitious initiative is implemented, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation estimates it could cost American taxpayers over $2,500 each.

The governors said Biden’s plan forces lower-income families to take on the debt burdens from wealthy Americans.

“Only 16-17 percent of Americans have federal student loan debt, and yet, your plan will require their debts be redistributed and paid by the vast majority of taxpayers,” they wrote. “Borrowers with the most debt, such as $50,000 or more, almost exclusively have graduate degrees, meaning hourly workers will pay off the master’s and doctorate degrees of high salaried lawyers, doctors, and professors.

“What’s more, the top 20 percent of earning households hold $3 in student debt for every $1 held by the bottom quintile, generating a