IL U.S. House District 13 - Rodney Davis issued the following announcement on Dec. 13.
U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Scott Peters (D-CA) recently penned a guest column in the Chicago Tribune encouraging employers to consider tax benefits that incentivize employers to make student loan payments on behalf of their employees. Legislation creating this student loan benefit, the Employer Participation in Repayment Act, was first introduced by Reps. Davis and Peters several years ago and signed into law last year by President Trump. You can learn more about this benefit visiting rodneydavis.house.gov/studentloanbenefit.
From the Davis-Peters guest column titled, “Employers should try to attract workers by offering student loan debt help. The law is on their side.”:
“…As we debate in Washington how best to tackle student debt and remedy our country’s labor shortage, there is one solution already codified into law that can treat both problems.
“We introduced the bipartisan Employer Participation in Repayment Act in 2019 to create a unique public-private partnership that incentivizes employers to pay down their employees’ student loans by making those loan payments tax-free.
“Our bill was included in the CARES Act last year and extended for a five-year period in legislation passed last December. Our proposal lowers payroll tax obligations for both employers and employees by allowing employers to treat student loan payments the same as tuition assistance programs that many already offer across the country.
“…Now, employers can offer up to $5,250 per year of tax-free student loan repayment to their employees, just like tuition assistance programs. To participate, the Internal Revenue Service requires employers to create a written educational assistance program plan for their employees, similar to the requirement for the tuition assistance benefit.
“…With the U.S. Department of Education restarting student loan payments on Jan. 31 after a pandemic-induced pause, now is the perfect time for employers to consider this benefit for their workforces. Employers will find this benefit a win-win to attract and retain workers, provide debt relief, and help our nation reduce our student debt crisis.”
Earlier this month, Rep. Davis spoke on the House floor encouraging his colleagues in Congress to spread the word to employers across the country to consider this new student loan benefit.
From Davis’ floor remarks:
I rise today to talk about a national problem that has continued for years, and that’s the rise in student loan debt. Over 40 million borrowers hold outstanding student loan balances that exceed $1.7 trillion. The average borrower holds about $39,000 in student debt.
This is unacceptable, but instead of talking about pie-in-the-sky policies like debt forgiveness that come from maybe the other side of this Capitol or chamber that we call the U.S. Senate. These proposals, they’re not just pie-in-the-sky, they’re B.S. They’re not gonna happen.
But it’s time that members of this body talk about the solutions that all of us here helped implement.
We actually addressed the student debt issue, and it’s through legislation I led with my colleague Congressman Scott Peters of California that was signed into law by President Trump last year and would allow employers to make tax-free student loan payments of up to $5,250 per year to each employee who holds an eligible student loan, lowering payroll taxes both for employers and the employees.
This public-private partnership model makes student loan payments eligible for employer-sponsored educational assistance programs just like tuition assistance has been for years.
In fact, my good friends at Chegg – you know, I’ve got four public universities in my district, four private universities in my district, and a handful of community college districts, and every one of those students, like my three kids that are in college right now and grad school, they know what Chegg is because that’s where they’re getting their books. It’s a cost effective, private sector approach to lower the cost of textbooks for kids nationwide. Well, the people at Chegg, they know how important student debt is because they’ve actually forgiven, paid back over $1 million in student debt for their employees. They’ve actually taken advantage of this program that we all passed in a bipartisan way to address this $1.7 trillion problem.
You know, every employer out there, do what Chegg has done. Take advantage of the tax provisions that are in place and were put in place by Republicans and Democrats and signed into law by President Trump. Let’s make sure that you use this as an effective recruitment tool and a retention tool in this economy.
So, Mr. Speaker, I’m asking my colleagues to help get the word out to our employers across this great country. Use what is already available to you and to your employees who have student debt. Use this student loan debt benefit to help recruit more workers. Use it to retain more talent. Use it to give your employees financial freedom and make a real difference in their lives by reducing their student debt and by reducing the $1.7 trillion in debt that we have in this country, which outnumbers all auto and credit card debt combined. Help your employees. Help America. Let’s get this economy back on track.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back.
Original source can be found here.