AFSCME’s Saunders on student debt relief: ‘Working people are finally catching a break’

WASHINGTON — AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued the following statement after President Joe Biden unveiled his plan to extend the moratorium on student loan payments and forgive up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients:

“For far too long, our national leaders prioritized rich people and corporate interests. Now, working people are finally catching a break.

“Today’s historic action puts money back into working people’s pockets and frees thousands of families from crippling debt. It builds on relief already delivered through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which has already lifted a burden for more than 160,000 public service workers across the country. And it joins lowering prescription drug costs, falling gas prices, and the lowest unemployment in 50 years as yet another way working Americans can benefit when leaders put their needs first.

“For far too long, too many people have barely kept their heads above water, struggling to pay the bills each month. With political extremists hellbent on reversing the progress of the last two years and taking away our rights and freedoms, the choices we must make in the 2022 midterm elections could not be clearer.”