PITTSBURGH — In a rare moment of unity between the two major political parties, both Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania met with excitement President Joe Biden's decision last week to cancel a large chunk of student debt for individual borrowers.
And how it will impact their party's chances in the November midterm elections.
For Pennsylvania Democrats, it's promises made, promises delivered for Biden, a base-energizing win that allows the party's foot soldiers to say to an entire generation of voters that they have their backs. Many of those Democrats, too, had warned their own party for months that if the president didn't cancel some student loan debt, it'd impact their midterm chances in a crucial cycle.
For Pennsylvania Republicans, it's just another line of evidence in the laundry list they're building to claim Democrats are reckless spenders, tapping into the uncertainty of America's economic future by warning that it'll be worse for young people when the bill comes due. They're hoping to provide a political home to those who feel it's unfair to cancel debt when so many either don't have it, or have already paid off their loans.
The race to mobilize voters around the issue starts now, and for NextGen America, the advocacy group that aims to register and activate young voters, it's the result of an entire generation's efforts. Activists from the group sent more than 17,000 digital letters to the White House asking for student loan assistance.
Pennsylvania State Director D'Angelo Virgo said it's no secret that voters have gone to the polls to vote for candidates who supported action on student loan debt, and said grassroots organizers here are excited to share the news with young people ahead of November.
"We've been talking about the student debt crisis for years, and this thing that just came out of the White House — out of the Biden administration — is huge," Virgo said. "And especially with the elections being so close, we will not forget it when going into the polls in November."
In a much-anticipated move, the Biden administration canceled $10,000 in federal student loan debt for people whose incomes are below $125,000 a year, or households earning less than $250,000. Borrowers who received federal Pell Grants got an additional $10,000 canceled.
Republicans in Pennsylvania have spoken out, en masse, with stark warnings about the decision, seeking to convince voters that it wasn't wise in times of economic duress.
Asked what GOP candidates should say to counter the Democrats' victory lap, Michael Straw, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee, said the burden has simply been transferred to middle and lower class families to pay over time. It'll exacerbate inflation, too, he said, and Americans will see it as Democrats acting irresponsibly during an economic crisis "in an attempt for short-term political gain."
"Middle-class families are struggling to pay their bills and President Biden and the Democrat Party just gave them more costs to consider at the kitchen table," Straw said. "Democrats should be worried this will backfire."
Political analysts across the country have dissected the potential electoral impacts of student loan debt cancellation for months. Sam Workman, director of the Rockefeller School of Policy and Politics at West Virginia University, said the effect may be felt in turnout, rather than party-switching, but risks being framed in a way to deepen "the divide between those who choose to go to college and those who don't." College graduates were already more likely to identify as Democrats and vote accordingly, he added.
It's more likely the impacts of student loan debt cancellation is a theme of the U.S. Senate race than the contest for Pennsylvania governor, as the federal government leads the way on the effort.
Republican Mehmet Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon and longtime TV celebrity, sounded off in wake of the decision, saying that canceling student loan debt costs billions and is "unfair to those who rightly paid off their debt."
"Instead of funding solutions like (career and technical education) or low income education programs, Biden is caving to the radical left," Oz posted on social media. "(Democrat John) Fetterman says he's for the working class but this hurts them the most."
Joe Calvello, a spokesman for Fetterman's campaign, said the candidate has been clear that some student loan debt cancellation has needed to happen, "especially for folks who are struggling." If the government can give tax breaks to rich people, it can do this, Calvello said.
But Fetterman also wants to help people who didn't go to college, and supports increased investments in career and technical programs, Calvello added.
"John also knows that the cost of college is far too high and needs to come down," Calvello said. "He supports efforts to lessen that burden on Pennsylvania's young people, like making two-year community and technical colleges tuition-free."
Some of the more progressive-leaning Democrats have called for a greater amount of student loan cancellation, and have said — since Biden's campaign promise of $10,000 — that it may not be enough.
In a fundraising email to supporters after Biden's announcement, the campaign of Summer Lee, the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 12th District, said the debt cancellation will "change lives" and is a win for people across the country, but added, "this isn't the end of our fight, and that's why as our Congresswoman, Summer will work for full student loan forgiveness."
Asked if Biden went far enough, Virgo said it deserves to be celebrated and specifically noted the $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients as something that will "make a difference in a lot of people's lives." The money will go back into the economy, he said, and give people more flexibility with their cash.
Though Pennsylvania's state-level politicians are generally not as involved in the issue of student loan debt, that doesn't mean they don't oversee the impacts.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor, labeled it "Biden's reckless redistribution" and said it'll do nothing but fuel the ongoing inflation crisis.
"It is precisely this sort of irresponsible government spending that got us here in the first place," Mastriano wrote on his social media.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, is talking up his own actions as Pennsylvania attorney general to address the student loan debt crisis and ran a TV ad touting his office's settlement that canceled debt for those steered into predatory loans from a specific company.
"These days it's hard enough being a nurse without somebody trying to rip you off. Josh Shapiro, he'll take on anybody to do what's right," said Alexis Miller in the ad. Miller got a nursing degree with a student loan from the company.
