Bill O’Boyle: Capitol Roundup: Casey, Toomey disagree on Biden's student loan debt forgiveness plan

Aug. 28—Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey sharply disagreed this week on President Joe Biden's announcement to cancel $10,000 of student debt for people making less than $125,000 a year.

Casey, D-Scranton, said borrowers who received Pell Grants are eligible for up to an additional $10,000 of forgiveness.

President Biden also announced that the pause on federal student loan repayments will be extended for one final time through Dec. 31, 2022.

Additionally, Casey said President Biden is taking steps to make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers by cutting monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans and holding schools accountable when they hike up prices.

"President Biden eased the burden for millions of Americans who are struggling under the weight of their student debt," Casey said. "This will give them the freedom to invest in their future, buy a home, or take a risk and start a business. It's an important first step forward in helping borrowers saddled with student debt. Moving forward, we must work to lower the skyrocketing costs of college so that future students are able to get an education without signing up for a lifetime of debt."

Since 1980, Casey said the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. Casey said federal support has not kept up — Pell Grants once covered nearly 80% of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third.

Casey also said President Biden has previously announced student debt forgiveness or cancellation for 1.3 million students who were cheated or defrauded by shady for-profit colleges. Casey said he has worked to improve the troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by offering a waiver for some students who were mistakenly in the wrong payment plan to receive credit for past payments.

Casey has urged for the extension of this waiver until July 2023.

So far, Casey said more than 175,000 people in the PSLF program have had their loans forgiven by the Biden Administration.

Toomey: 'Grossly unfair'

Sen. Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said Biden's loan forgiveness is "grossly unfair," calling the plan a "taxpayer-subsidized handout to the wealthy. Toomey said the plan will cost taxpayers more than $300 billion and accelerate record-high inflation.

Toomey criticized the Biden Administration's decision to force taxpayers to pay for the cancellation of student debt. He said President Biden's plan will use questionable executive authority to cancel up to $20,000 in student loans for families making up to $250,000 annually.

"President Biden's student loan bailout scheme is a government handout to Americans making up to $250,000 annually and the higher education industrial complex," Toomey said. "Taxpayers will foot the bill for this massive expenditure, including the vast majority of Americans who already paid off their loans, paid for tuition out of pocket, or do not even have post-secondary education nor enjoy the higher lifetime earnings associated with it."

Toomey went on to say, "This decision will have wide-reaching, negative ramifications across America's economy, including increasing already disastrous inflation, exacerbating America's spending problems, and encouraging higher education institutions to raise the cost of going to college."

Meuser supports legislation to clear IRS return backlog

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week joined colleagues Randy Weber (TX-19), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) and Darrell Issa (CA-50) to introduce legislation aimed at helping taxpayers and holding the management of the Internal Revenue Service accountable in clearing a massive backlog of returns.

The Require Employees to Uniformly Return Now — RETURN — Act (H.R. 8742) calls for IRS employees who are working remotely to come back to offices to expedite millions of unprocessed refunds and get money back into the hands of taxpayers.

The legislation is a modified version of a proposal by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).

The RETURN Act:

—Prohibits the Internal Revenue Service from authorizing its employees to telework or spend the new $80 billion appropriation from the Inflation Reduction Act until the Commissioner certifies that the tax return backlog from the 2020 tax year has been eliminated.

—Allows for telework options that existed for certain individual cases prior to the pandemic and includes a five-day grace period after enactment to allow employees to transition back to the office.

The agency claims one factor that caused the backlog was the pandemic, which forced IRS employees to work from home.

At the end of May, the IRS reported a backlog of 21.3 million unprocessed paper returns, an increase of 1.3 million over the same time last year.

Before the pandemic, the IRS typically delivered refunds to paper-filers in four to six weeks. Refund delays on paper returns are running six months, with common delays of up to 10 months.

The IRS Commissioner testified in an April hearing before the Senate Finance Committee that 53% of the IRS workforce are fully telework and the rest are on a flex schedule.

Telework was originally allowed as a COVID-19 pandemic precaution but has continued despite the IRS having a 98% vaccination rate for its employees.

Democrats have appropriated $80 billion outside of regular appropriations to increase the size and scope of the IRS to cut down on what they claim is a "tax gap."

"The IRS has been terribly mismanaged by the Biden Administration and there are extensive delays processing returns, leading to frustration for taxpayers," Meuser commented. "Now, under the Inflation Reduction Act, there are plans to double the size of the IRS. When a department is failing due to poor management, the worst thing we can do is expand the workforce. This bill will prohibit an expansion until the IRS can do the job it had done in the past and reach a reasonable level of processed returns."

Ag Secretary: Support Pa. farmers, shop local

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined the PA Vegetable Growers Association this week at Harvest Valley Farms, a fourth-generation vegetable farm and PA Preferred on-farm market, to highlight investments strengthening fruit and vegetable production and to encourage Pennsylvanians to shop locally this harvest season.

"As we celebrate Pennsylvania Produce Month this August, we are reminded of fruit and vegetable growers — like Harvest Valley Farms — who go the extra mile for the communities they serve," said Redding. "It is demonstrated through charitable food donation, conservation work, and the connections made by bringing food from field to table. This harvest season, join me in supporting Pennsylvania farmers by shopping locally and buying PA Preferred. It is a great way to say, 'thank you' to all those who help bring food to our tables."

According to the 2021 Pennsylvania agriculture economic impact update, Pennsylvania fruit and vegetable production supports more than 7,200 family farms, 31,000 jobs, and contributes more than $6.1 billion to the state economy annually.

Meuser receives 'Friend of the Farm Bureau" award

The American Farm Bureau Federation has notified U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, that he is the recipient of the "Friend of the Farm Bureau" award for the 117th Congress. The award is given to members who have supported the bureau's position on policy issues, as demonstrated by their voting records, according to Samuel A. Kieffer, vice president of public policy for the organization.

Meuser was nominated by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and approved by the AFBF Board of Directors.

"As a member of Congress, I have been dedicated to advocating for and supporting our farmers and producers," Meuser commented. "I am pleased to receive the "Friend of the Farm Bureau" award for the 117th Congress. Farmers are a vital part of our economy, and I will continue to support policies that will benefit our agricultural communities and the millions of people they feed."

"On behalf of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the state's largest general farm organization, we'd like to congratulate U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser and thank him for supporting legislation that benefits agriculture," said Rick Ebert, the organization's president, who is also a Westmoreland County dairy farmer. "The support from our "Friend of Farm Bureau" award recipients helps preserve the future of family farms in Pennsylvania, maintain our ability to produce safe and affordable food for consumers, and provide resources to assist farmers in implementing environmentally friendly practices on the farm. Farm families have been greatly challenged in recent years, and continued support for agriculture is vital to ensure the future success of our industry."

"Pennsylvania has a strong agricultural heritage and Pennsylvania farmers continue to supply the nation and the world with high-quality agricultural products. Rep. Meuser is a strong supporter of Pennsylvania's agriculture community."

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.