Whaley criticized Biden's student loan forgiveness. She signed a letter advocating for it.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley recently criticized President Joe Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loans. But in the past, she signed a letter advocating for student loan forgiveness.

Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton who is challenging Gov. Mike DeWine this November, joined fellow mayors in a December 2020 letter asking Biden to extend student loan forgiveness amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Students loan debt is the second-highest form of household debt in the country, exacerbating the racial wealth gap and disproportionately impacting women," Whaley and fellow mayors wrote. "Extending loan forgiveness to more low-wage earners will provide needed relief to the workforce and boost the economy."

Last week, Biden announced that his administration would forgive $20,000 in federal student loans for those who received Pell grants, a form of financial aid for those with significant need, and $10,000 for many other borrowers. The relief would be available to anyone making less than $125,000 a year.

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Whaley, along with many Republicans and some Democrats, criticized the idea.

"This policy is not fair to the thousands of Ohioans who made the decision to not attend college because of the cost or for those who have already paid off their loans," Whaley said in a statement Monday. On Friday, she told Columbus' NBC4: “I believe that if you take a loan, you should pay a loan."

Whaley spokeswoman Courtney Rice said the former Dayton mayor has always been wary of student loan forgiveness. Whaley signed onto the December 2020 letter because the bulk of it included policies to help working families during the pandemic.

"She didn't want to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and deter some of that necessary relief," Rice said.

But DeWine spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Whaley changed her unpopular position to appeal to Ohio voters.

“Mayor Whaley has long called for President Biden's plan to redistribute wealth from the working class to high-earning Americans," McLaughlin said. "Now that Mayor Whaley realizes taxpayers footing the bill for blanket student loan relief isn't popular with Ohio voters, she is flip-flopping and purporting to support those who work hard and save.”

Republicans, and some Democrats, have painted Biden's policy as a bailout for America's elite college attendees on the backs of working-class voters.

However, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that nearly 90% of student loan relief will go to those earning less than $75,000 a year. A new analysis from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that 75% of the benefit would go to households making $88,000 or less.

Still, the price tag is high: up to $519 billion for debt cancellation alone, according to the analysis.

Other Democrats, including U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan, have criticized Biden's plan as unfair to individuals who didn't go to college. Opponents quickly pointed out that Ryan had previously expressed support for student loan forgiveness, tweeting in October 2018: “If we can bail out the banks who did everything wrong, we can help out the students who did everything right.”

Where does Mike DeWine stand on student loan forgiveness?

Where does DeWine stand on Biden's policy? The governor expressed sympathy for those with student loan debt, but told Dayton's WHIO: "I've also heard from people who paid off their debt and they said, 'What about me? Where's the equity? Where's the fairness to that?'"

Whaley and DeWine did agree on one thing: College tuition is too high for some Ohioans.

"For too many working families, the cost of higher education has now become unattainable," Whaley said. "We need to help students afford the education they want, whether that's a college degree, an apprenticeship, or something else."

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Flip-flop? Nan Whaley slams Biden plan to cancel student loan debt