Missouri AG set to argue permanent block of student loan bailout, St. Louis students hope Supreme Court sides with Biden

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - The US Supreme Court will hear a case this month to permanently block President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan with the State of Missouri as the lead plaintiff.

Currently, all relief is on hold until SCOTUS decides the case.

St. Louis University sophomore Patty Lachowize was excited to hear a good chunk of her student loan debt would be wiped clean when the plan was initially announced.

“Obviously overjoyed, because I don’t have to pay that much because I do have a lot of loans taken out,” said Lachowize.

She’s one of 305,000 in Missouri that have applied and been accepted for President Biden’s program that knocks out up to 20,000 dollars for most people with student loan debt.

“We’re helping regular middle-class Americans now,” said US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona during an interview with KMOV this week.

He said those that paid off their loans or saved up money to avoid loans, still indirectly benefit

“If it means the person next door to you doesn’t have to go into default and helping the local economy, it’s helping the whole community,” said Cardona.

Emili Absalon, a sophomore at University of Missouri-St. Louis, is one of the students that are paying for college on their own, but didn’t take out loans.

“I’m not trying to spend the rest of my life with debt,” said Absalon.

She said she’s happy the student debt is getting wiped away, giving more people a chance to crawl out of debt, but has mixed feelings on not taking out loans herself.

“I think anybody would be reasonably upset about it, but I also know I can’t go back and change that,” said Absalon.

She also knows somebody will be paying the tab, when and if the debt relief happens.

“I also know that that money is coming from somewhere so where is it coming from,” said Absalon.

That answer is the $400 billion program will raise the national debt, if approved by the courts.

When asked, Secretary Cardona pointed to places the president cut the debt and said many opponents of the policy were fine with handing out billions during the pandemic.

“There’s people that have problems with it because they’re helping everyday Americans. They didn’t have problems bailing out corporations,” said Cardona.

One of those opponents is Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who took to Twitter recently to explain why he’s pursuing blocking the President’s actions.

“As a combat vet, I paid for my education in blood, sweat and tears. This unconstitutional redistribution of wealth is personal to me, and I won’t back down,” said Bailey.

As for Absalon, she’s working two jobs and likely has seven more years of college, with aims of going to veterinary school. All of it with zero loans.

“It’s going to require a lot of determination and drive and money,” said Absalon.

The US Supreme Court is set to hear the case Feb. 28, with a decision likely later in the year.

Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved.