Inside Republicans’ "Big Ugly Law"

Republicans' "Big Ugly Law" makes extreme cuts to federal education, health, and child nutrition programs, and raises the federal deficit, all to give more tax breaks and handouts to wealthy Americans and corporations.

 Watch Ranking Member Scott Rip Apart Republicans' "Big Ugly Law" on YouTube.

Republicans' "Big Ugly Law" will make college less affordable for students, raise student loan payments for current borrowers, and expose students to predatory, for-profit institutions— all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. Republicans’ “Big Ugly Law” raises costs for students by:

Forcing student loan borrowers into unaffordable repayment plans.  For the more than 42 million Americans who hold federal student loan debt, this law replaces existing income-driven repayment plans with a single plan that would increase payments for most borrowers and remove existing safeguards that protect borrowers from carrying debt for more than 25 years.  For the average borrower, the "Big Ugly Law" will increase monthly student loan payments by almost $200.  

Eliminating resources to help struggling borrowers.  This law eliminates economic hardship forbearances and limits the length of time loans can be in deferment, regardless of any administrative challenges borrowers may face with their loan servicer.  This law makes it harder for borrowers who may be struggling with the cost of living, such as child care, medical bills, or job loss, since they will now be forced to continue loan payments they cannot afford.  

Pushes students into the predatory, private loan market by eliminating Graduate PLUS loans, capping Parent PLUS loans, and limiting Pell Grant access.  This law prohibits students with full scholarships from receiving Pell Grants if their college determines that the student’s basic needs are already met.  Additionally, it requires undergraduate students to exhaust their unsubsidized loans before parents can utilize Parent PLUS loans to cover the remaining cost of attendance, and sets a limit of $65,000 per child for Parent PLUS loans.  With these student aid caps, students will be pushed to take out predatory, unregulated private loans to finance their education, or walk away from it altogether.  

To learn more about how the Republicans’ "Big Ugly Law" will make college less affordable and expose students and taxpayers to risk, click here.  

Republicans’ extreme cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will negatively impact children’s access to school meal programs and threaten food security for millions of families.  

Millions of working families rely on school meals to ensure their children receive a healthy and nutritious meal during the school day.  Through a process known as direct certification, children are directly certified for free school meals if their household participates in SNAP.  And, in most states, a household’s participation in Medicaid also directly certifies children for free or reduced-price school meals. 

Medicaid and SNAP participation allow millions of low-income students to be certified for free or reduced-price school meals without forcing families or schools to deal with duplicative and burdensome paperwork.   This makes the process of getting a meal easier for kids and families.  

At least 19.4 million kids are able to be directly certified for free or reduced-price meals because their families participate in SNAP, Medicaid, or meet other federal criteria.

To learn more about how the Republicans' "Big Ugly Law" limits access to free school meals, click here. 

Republicans’ "Big Ugly Law" will create the first nationwide federal school voucher program, force taxpayers to fund private schools and homeschools, and effectively divert funding and resources away from public schools that serve over 90 percent of students.

Republicans’ budget reconciliation law creates an unprecedented tax cut for the rich by: 

• Enabling donors to school voucher programs to receive a 100 percent tax credit for contributions up to $1700 per year in states that elect to participate.  This would elevate donations to voucher programs above all other types of donations, including those made to food pantries, hospitals, houses of worship, and every other kind of charity.
• Letting wealthy people—those earning up to and including 300 percent of the area median gross income—qualify for the vouchers to use for their own children for private schools, including religious schools.
• Creating a permanent tax credit to fund school vouchers with little to no accountability and forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for the ever-increasing costs. 

To learn more about how the Republicans’ "Big Ugly Law" is bad for public education, click here.