Walsh: Rauner Putting Corporate Profits over the Rights of Students

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Larry Walsh, D-Joliet, is urging his colleagues in the General Assembly to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of legislation that would provide protect students against predatory lenders by creating a Student Loan Bill of Rights.

“I am ashamed Governor Rauner has chosen to protect the profits of predatory lenders over the rights of our students,” Walsh said. “This legislation would have brought much-needed reforms to the student loan industry here in Illinois and would have better protected young people who are simply trying to go to school.”

Walsh sponsored Senate Bill 1351, which in addition to establishing a Student Loan Bill of Rights, also creates a Student Loan Ombudsman within the Office of the Attorney General to assist students with any questions about the loan servicing process. The legislation also allows the Attorney General to enforce provisions that prohibit student loan servicers from engaging in unfair business practices. Finally, the legislation requires that all student loan vendors be licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Rauner’s veto of this legislation now jeopardizes these protections for students.

“I am encouraging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together to give our young students the financial protections they need to avoid graduating with crushing debt,” Walsh said. “Let’s override the governor’s veto and put the rights of students above the profits of unscrupulous lenders who will do anything to make a buck.”