Matt Lesser

Lesser Blasts DeVos After Court Rules Against CT Student Loan Bill of Rights

HARTFORD – Yesterday a federal Judge in Connecticut ruled in favor of PHEAA, a Pennsylvania student loan servicer, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos who had sued, seeking to strike down the Connecticut Student Loan Bill of Rights. In response Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) released the following statement:

“This case is about one basic question: do student loan companies have to follow the law or should they be above the law, left completely unregulated? In 2015, I wrote Connecticut’s first in the nation Student Loan Bill of Rights to hold these companies accountable. The Student Loan Bill of Rights applies the same kind of financial oversight to student loan companies that applies to every other company in the financial sector.

“For Connecticut residents struggling to pay off student loans, the timing of this decision couldn’t be worse. It’s profoundly disturbing that Betsy DeVos – in the middle of a pandemic – is still focused on helping her cronies in the student loan industry escape scrutiny at the expense of the millions of Americans saddled with student loan debt. I am confident that the State of Connecticut will continue to fight for state oversight over the student loan industry. Although yesterday’s decision was a temporary setback, there are a number of paths forward and I am confident we will hold the industry accountable in the end.”

Additional information:

• Background on PHEAA
• Decision