Condemning President Donald J. Trump and his administration for their decision to suspend income-driven student loan repayment plans and for politicizing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to target advocates working to oppose his anti-immigrant, anti-trans, anti-free speech agenda.

Condemning President Donald J. Trump and his administration for their decision to suspend income-driven student loan repayment plans and for politicizing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to target advocates working to oppose his anti-immigrant, anti-trans, anti-free speech agenda. WHEREAS, Over 300,000 Philadelphians owe over $11 billion collectively in student loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; and WHEREAS, Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans help borrowers manage their student debt by tying their monthly payments to their income and family size, with the remainder of their balance forgiven after 20 to 25 years; and WHEREAS, Without warning or justification, the Trump Administration’s Department of Education (DoE) removed applications for all IDR plans from public access and paused the processing of submitted applications; and WHEREAS, This suspension affects both prospective IDR plan applicants and those already enrolled in these plans, because those already enrolled must recertify their income annually through submitting a new application; and WHEREAS, A DoE memorandum obtained by The Washington Post stated that Trump’s IDR plan suspension could last 3 months or longer, a decision that would add to the existing long wait time for this critical tool for low-to-moderate income borrowers who would otherwise be financially overwhelmed by their student loan debt; and WHEREAS, The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, created b…