Student Loan Cancellation Update: New Group Considered for Fogiveness
Student debt relief activists participate in a rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2023, in Washington, DC.
In a renewed effort to cancel student loan debt for a niche group, Democratic Senators Chris Murphy from Connecticut and Tina Smith from Minnesota are pushing a forgiveness program for beginning farmers and ranchers.
With the rising costs of higher education, more students are turning to loans to finance their degrees. However, many students struggle to repay these loans after college, which has become a significant issue for Democrats. So far, President Joe Biden’s administration has authorized the cancellation of $153 billion in student loan debt for nearly 4.3 million people.
Murphy and Smith, both members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, reintroduced the Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act on Wednesday. The act creates a loan forgiveness program for not only beginning farmers and ranchers, but also women, veteran, and minority farmers.
“Connecticut farmers have always been the lifeblood of our rural communities, but starting and maintaining a new farm is increasingly unaffordable for young people who are often saddled with student loan debt and can’t afford to make additional investments necessary for success,” Senator Murphy said in a press release on Wednesday. “By helping new farmers pay off their student loans, this legislation would pave the way for Connecticut’s next generation of farmers.”
There are about 30 percent of producers considered beginning farmers in Connecticut, according to the release. A beginning farmer is someone who is operating a farm with less than 10 years of experience.
Senator Smith echoed Murphy’s calls to help the next generation of farmers.
“To keep Minnesota’s agriculture economy thriving, we need to continue to invest in the next generation of farmers as the average age of farmers keeps going up. There is more we can be doing to help future farmers fill their shoes,” said Smith in the release.
“Student debt is one of the most significant challenges our young farmers and ranchers face. This legislation would help incentivize a younger, more diverse workforce and help more people start and stay in farming.”
There are about 16,910 beginning farmers in Minnesota, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2017.
Murphy has introduced this legislation twice before, once in December 2022 with Smith and Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, co-sponsoring the bill, and once in April 2018 with then-Senator Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat.
Newsweek reached out to Murphy’s and Smith’s offices via email for comment.
Currently, Minnesota has a program to help new farmers break into the agriculture industry known as the Minnesota Beginning Farmer Tax Credit. The program gives tax credits to asset owners who rent or sell farmland, equipment, livestock, and other agricultural assets to beginning farmers. However, new 2024 asset owner tax credit approvals have been placed on hold because of limited funds.
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