Ohio Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) continues appeal to possible Republican and independent crossover voters in his U.S. Senate race by not endorsing President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
But Ryan’s stance is a dramatic departure from his position on the issue prior to 2021.
Ryan announced this summer that he was opposed to President Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans, but for years prior, Ryan called for taxpayer-funded student loan forgiveness.
In 2019, Ryan praised Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) student debt relief plan when he ran for president. Now that Ryan is running for U.S Senate, he says that President Biden’s student debt plan “sends the wrong message.”
During his run for the White House in 2019, the U.S. Senate hopeful was equally supportive of student debt relief. When asked by CNN if Americans could afford either Senator Sanders’ or Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) student debt cancellation plans, he said that he supported them.
“I think doing something along those lines is going to put money into the pockets of working-class people and I’m supportive of that,” Ryan said. “It’s also going to be good for the economy.”
He also said that he comes from the industrial Midwest and noted that many working-class Ohioans did not go to college and would not benefit from student debt relief.
Warren’s debt plan would forgive up to $50,000 in student loans for those making less than $100,000 per year. Sanders’ plan would outright cancel the nation’s $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.
“Student debt is out of control. If we can bail out the banks who did everything wrong, we can help out the students who did everything right,” Ryan said.
Additionally, in 2020 Ryan voted in favor of the Heroes Act, which would have canceled $10,000 in student debt. He also voted for an amendment that same year to the latest reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would have also canceled up to $10,000 in student debt.
However, now that Ryan is running for the U.S. Senate against Republican J.D. Vance, he said he favors other policies over broad forgiveness.
“I think there is a better way to do it. I think the best way, in my opinion, is to allow people who have loans to negotiate their interest rates down to one percent or two percent. That’s going to put money in people’s pockets. I think that’s the cleanest way to go about doing it,” Ryan said.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
