WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans say they want to prevent the cost of federal loans from doubling for millions of students. But in an intensifying election-year battle, each party wants to pay for it with savings the other side hates.
In the latest political chess move in the fight, Speaker John Boehner scheduled a House vote for Friday on a GOP bill preventing the 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling as scheduled on July 1.
The bill’s $5.9 billion cost would be paid for with cuts from President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law, which Democrats consider a major accomplishment.
A Senate Democratic bill would freeze interest rates but be paid for with fresh payroll taxes on some high-income, privately owned corporations, which Republicans reject.
