Rebecca Hill isn’t a fan of either political party right now, but the chaos surrounding student debt might make her vote Democrat.
Hill, 61, is an independent voter and has said in the past that she leans right: She voted for Trump in the 2016 election.
Now, however, Hill is reconsidering her vote. She has nearly $50,000 in student loans, according to documents seen by Business Insider, and she has signed up for President Joe Biden’s SAVE student loan repayment plan, which is designed to lower borrowers’ payments. depending on their income and give them a shorter deadline for debt cancellation.
It’s the same plan that is currently stuck in court as Republican state attorneys general lobby to block its implementation altogether.
“Every time something new comes out, I’m a nervous wreck,” Hill told BI of the news surrounding the fate of the SAVE plan.
“When can I start thinking it’s safe to retire? I’m getting older, I’m tired, and I’ve already had hip surgery,” she added. “I want to be able to breathe, but to retire and have to pay student loans when I’m not even working anymore and I’m paying most of my Social Security into student loans is ridiculous. It’s extremely stressful. I feel like they’re about to pull the rug out from under us again.”
After two separate groups of Republican state attorneys general filed lawsuits to block SAVE earlier this year, federal courts temporarily put parts of the plan on hold. The 10th Circuit subsequently ruled that some provisions of the SAVE bill could be adopted, but more recently the 8th Circuit blocked the bill in its entirety, pending a final decision.
One of the main arguments in the lawsuits is the cost of the plan to taxpayers. The case led by the Missouri attorney general relies on an estimate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania that the SAVE plan could cost $475 billion over 10 years.
The lawsuits have thrown $8 million SAVE borrowers, including Hill, into financial straits. Hill said the uncertainty over her student loans is forcing her to push back her retirement date. She is a teacher and has loans because she went back to school in 2009 to get her teaching degree, which she financed with grants, scholarships and student loans.
Even though she landed a job in her chosen field, it was not easy for her to make monthly payments of about $300 under the income-driven repayment plan because of her other expenses. The SAVE plan, however, reduced her payments to just over $120, and she fears that if the lawsuits are successful, her payments will increase.
“I’m afraid they’re not going to hear us,” Hill said. “The Democratic Party, and I’m not left-wing, but at least they’re doing something about it. The Republicans really scare me.”
“It’s just very frustrating.”
When Hill enrolled in the SAVE program last summer, she felt immediate relief and felt like, for once, she could pay off her student loans.
The lower monthly payments have allowed her to save for a new car and she doesn’t have to worry about her medication or daily expenses.
“I don’t have to worry about whether I need to buy medication or buy groceries this week. I can do home repairs. I’ve been able to get the roof replaced and things like that,” Hill said. “Will I have enough gas to get to work? It’s ridiculous how much stress relief it takes to have that extra breathing room.”
That’s why the lawsuits are causing Hill to reconsider which party she supports: “It’s just very frustrating.”
“I don’t understand what Republicans think,” she said. “Why don’t we invest in our people? I mean, they’re our greatest asset, our people. Let’s invest in their education.”
Trump has previously criticized Biden’s efforts to cancel student loans. At a campaign rally in Wisconsin in June, Trump said Biden was “throwing money down the drain” with his debt relief policies.
“This student loan program, which is not even legal, I mean it’s not even legal, and students don’t believe in it, by the way,” Trump said, adding that the debt relief was “despicable” and an attempt to “advertise the election.”
Republican lawmakers have also backed lawsuits aimed at blocking the SAVE plan. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Bill Cassidy filed a brief with the Supreme Court accusing Biden of “sending the money out the door, never to be seen again, through a legally dubious scheme in the final stretch of his desperate reelection campaign.”
The filing was made before Biden withdrew from the presidential race, but with his support for Vice President Kamala Harris, his debt relief efforts would likely continue if she wins.
The Department of Education has vowed to continue fighting for the SAVE plan in court. In the meantime, all borrowers enrolled in the SAVE program have been placed in a forbearance period, during which they do not have to make payments and interest will not accrue. However, the months of pause will not count toward progress on debt forgiveness on public service loans and income-driven repayment plans, even if borrowers continue to make payments.
As a teacher, Hill is also enrolled in PSLF and has two more years before she’s eligible for aid. In the meantime, she’s hoping SAVE will survive so she can pay her benefits while saving for retirement.
“If the right continues to oppose the student loan issue, I will not vote right,” Hill said. “I will simply not vote.”
Are you enrolled in the SAVE program? Are your student loan payments influencing how you vote in elections? Share your story with this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.
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