H.R. 1911 would replace the 6.8% rate with one pegged to high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 2.5%. In 2013 and 2014, that is expected to be only 4.4% and 5.0% respectively (increasing the cost to taxpayers in the first few years). If interest rates rise as projected, the loan rate will increase up to a cap of 8.5%. However, if rates stay low, students will receive a subsidy at the expense of taxpayers. For more information, please read this blog post. Please encourage your Representative to oppose this legislation.
For additional information please go here.
2) Farm bill: Last week, the House Agriculture Committee passed the farm bill out of committee. It is expected to reach the floor in mid-June for consideration by the full House. Attached is an updated one pager on the legislation--more information will follow. The bill would cost $940 billion over ten years, a 56% increase from the last farm bill. Roughly 80% of the bill constitutes food stamp spending. Please encourage your Representative to oppose this legislation and support efforts to separate the food stamp spending from the farm subsidies so that both can be reformed.
3) Internet Sales Tax: Rep. Thomas Massie is circulating a letter to Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor urging them not to schedule the internet sales tax for consideration. The bipartisan letter is attached. The following 14 Congressmen have signed the letter: Massie, Amash, Lofgren (D), McClintock, Fleming, DeSantis (FL), Wenstrup, Bridenstine, Daines, Culberson, DeFazio (D), Stockman, Garrett, and Jones. Please encourage your Representative to sign the Massie letter and thereby take a position against the internet sales tax. Those of you in DeSantis' district can thank him for his leadership on this.
US Senate
1) Farm Bill: The Senate is considering a farm bill that is even worse than the House version this week. However, the basic framework of the legislation is the same. More information is attached. Please encourage Sen Nelson and Sen Rubio to oppose this legislation and support efforts to separate the food stamp spending from the farm subsidies so that both can be reformed.
2) Amnesty: The Gang of 8 amnesty proposal has cleared the Judiciary Committee so the full Senate is expected to consider that legislation soon. The bill is unfair to those who have immigrated to this country lawfully and would cost $6.3 trillion to taxpayers over the coming decades. It would also worsen the immigration system by encouraging additional law-breaking. Read more here. Please encourage Sen Nelson and Sen Rubio to oppose the Gang of 8 amnesty bill for these reasons.
Also please ask when your Representatives will attend a town hall meeting while they are in district next week. Some representatives are good about this, others not so much. If they are not accessible, encourage them to reconsider.
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