Resolution 190188

..Title Urging the United States Congress to reject President Trump's proposed budget cuts to the United States Department of Education. ..Body WHEREAS, President Trump's 2020 budget proposal seeks to cut the United States Department of Education's funding by $7.1 billion as compared to 2019 funding; and WHEREAS, The budget proposal introduces cuts to 29 programs including, but not limited to, summer and after school programs for high school students in poverty-stricken areas; and WHEREAS, President Trump's 2020 budget proposal would also terminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a federal program created by President George W. Bush that forgives federal student loans for borrowers who are employed full-time (more than 30 hours per week) in an eligible federal, state or local public service job or 501(c)(3) non-profit job who make 120 eligible on-time payments over ten years; and WHEREAS, Due to the student loan debt crisis many citizens of Philadelphia often cannot start families, purchase homes, or start businesses because their disposable income is used to pay student loan debt. This leads to further income inequality among the citizens of Philadelphia; and WHEREAS, Elimination of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program could discourage loan borrowers from entering into public service, negatively affecting public servants, including members of the U.S. Armed Forces, police officers, firefighters, first responders, prosecutors, public defenders, and many more; and WHEREAS, The budget proposal would eliminate several other higher education programs, such as subsidized Stafford Loans, and reduce federal work-study funding. Ending subsidized student loans would increase the cost of attending college and graduate school due to increasing interest costs for student borrowers; and WHEREAS, The 2020 budget proposal seeks to change Federal Student Loan repayment by reducing income-driven repayment, a process that allows student borrowers to repay their federal student loans based on income, family size and other factors, possibly resulting in student loan forgiveness; and WHEREAS, Ultimately, Congress has the responsibility for setting the funding level. Research shows that investments in education results in billions of dollars of social and economic benefits for society at-large; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Does hereby urge the United States Congress to reject President Trump's proposed budget cuts to the United States Department of Education. ..End