The Business Review January 2021

CREATING A STRONG ECONOMY

FINAL STIMULUS DEAL: What Student Loan Borrowers Need To Know About Relief Ending December 20, 2020 | Forbes | Adam S. Minsky

Congress has reached an agreement on a new stimulus package. And it’s not great news for student loan borrowers. Background Lawmakers have been engaged in intense talks to reach consensus on a new compromise stimulus package that can pass Congress this week. While there has been broad agreement over some areas of relief — such as extending unemployment relief and providing additional funding to small businesses — other proposals have generated more partisan opposition. This has been an impediment to finding common ground. Since March, the CARES Act has suspended all payments on government-held federal student loans, frozen all

interest, and stopped all collections efforts. The freeze on collections has included involuntary wage garnishments and interceptions of federal tax refunds. The CARES Act’s student loan relief was originally scheduled to end in September, but the Trump administration granted two extensions — the first to December 31, and the second to January 31, to provide Congress with additional time to extend the relief further.

Final Stimulus Package — No Further Student Loan Relief

Congress had appeared likely to extend the existing student loan relief into the spring. A draft summary of a bipartisan stimulus proposal released earlier in December had included an extension of existing student loan relief to April.

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The Business Review | January 2021

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