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Sen. Sherrod Brown Among Democrats Pushing Debt-Free College Bill

photo of Sen. Sherrod Brown
ANDY CHOW
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Sen. Sherrod Brown is co-sponsoring a bill that would help college students graduate debt-free.

Senator Sherrod Brown is pushing for a bill that would give states incentives to help students graduate from college debt-free.

Brown is co-sponsoring the Debt-Free College Act,  which would offer states more federal funding for their public universities if they spend more money helping eliminate college costs for students. The funds would be matched dollar for dollar.

Brown said he thinks more money should be prioritized for legislation like this rather than for tax breaks.

“The conservative viewpoint always is, ‘well, we cut taxes on rich people, and then when we want to do something for middle class or working class kids, or poor kids, then you got to pay for it,’" he said. "Well, I just reject that out of hand.”

Brown also said he plans to introduce a bill later this week that would allow students to refinance their loans to the current borrowing rate.

The Debt-Free College Act has been proposed previously but never passed.