Legislation introduced on Monday by U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) would take steps to alleviate the more than $1.3 trillion in student loan debt that burdens 40 million Americans.
The Higher Education Loan Payments (HELP) for Students and Parents Act would reform federal tax code to encourage employer contributions to employee student loan repayments.
Under the bill, the amount that employers contribute toward employees’ student loan debt repayments would be excluded from income, and employers would receive a tax credit based on their contributions.
“Sadly, there are students in our community — as young as elementary school — who now believe that because their families don’t have the means to pay, they will never be able to go to college regardless of how hard they work,” Dold said. “These are bright, hardworking students who have given up because they believe they’ll just never be able to afford to go to college. That’s unacceptable and must change…”
The bill would also exclude the amount that parents’ employers contribute to child college savings accounts from income, and it would provide a tax credit to employers based on contributions to 529 college savings accounts.
“As the son of a schoolteacher, I’ve always believed that a quality education should be within reach for everybody, regardless of zip code or income,” Dold said. “That’s why we’re introducing new legislation, called the HELP for Students and Parents Act, to reduce the burden of student loans and help families pay for college.”
Andrew Bordewick, the vice president of development at Peanut Butter, a startup based in Chicago’s 1871 tech hub that helps companies provide student loan benefits to attract and retain Millennial employees, applauded the bill.
“At Peanut Butter, we’re very excited to support Congressman Dold’s new legislation,” Bordewick said. “The HELP for Students and Parents Act will encourage tens of thousands of companies to join in the student loan debt solution and help relieve millions of graduates of the crushing burden of debt.”