Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Urging Support of Student Debt Cancellation
Purpose: To join municipalities in urging President Joseph R. Biden to cancel Federal student loan debt.
Sponsor: Council Member, LaMonica R. McIver
Additional Information:
Urging the Federal government to enact a plan to cancel all student loan debt, or for President Joseph R. Biden to use his executive authority to cancel all Federal student loan debt, and begin the transition to education as a public good.
body
WHEREAS, cancelling student loan debt and eliminating debt in higher education represents an enormous economic opportunity for the City of Newark (the "City") to increase spending in our local community, support individuals' upward mobility, and provide a deeply needed stimulus during the pandemic; and
WHEREA economically disadvantaged residents from Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color are most impacted by student debt; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark is New Jersey's largest city made up primarily of Black communities, communities of color; and immigrant communities with a rich tradition and history of pursuing social and economic justice; and
WHEREAS, student loan debt is another factor that drags families deeper into poverty, further exacerbating the City's already high poverty rate which is twice the poverty rate of New Jersey and nearly three times the national poverty rate; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey has among the highest student debt levels in the nation, leading to especially arduous debt loads for students in one of the most expensive states in the nation; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey has the third highest cost of attendance in the nation for in-state, full-time students at the average of $26,070.00 per year; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey is one of the top five states for stude...
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