Lummis Votes Against Student Loan Rate Increase

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis joined house colleagues Friday to vote to keep undergraduate Stafford Student Loan rates of 3.4%.

The rates were set to double in June. Lummis says 6.8% is a high interest rate for anyone borrowing right now, let alone students who face hefty unemployment rates after graduation. Lummis says the have been a lot of calls from both Republicans and Democrats to leave those rates at 3.4%.

Lummis says the cost of extending the loan rates, over $6 billion, will be paid for by eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund. Fifteen billion dollars was appropriated to the fund as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.