U.S. Rep. Darren Soto said he plans to introduce an idea next week to reform payment plans and put more money back in borrowers’ wallets.
Central Florida resident Kyle Schonewill hopes the plan will come to fruition.
Schonewill graduated from college six years ago, and although he's gone on to have a successful career as a musician, there's one thing holding him back.
“Between my wife and I, we’re at $130,000 in debt,” he said.
Schonewill and his wife are still struggling to pay off student loans. At one point, they opted for an accelerated payment plan to get the balance down faster.
“Our monthly payment sometimes was $2,000 a month, so if your (base) of money to live is $3,000 or $4,000, yeah, it would change a lot if I didn’t have (to pay) $2,000,” said Schonewill.
Soto’s proposed bill that would cap monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of a person’s income.
Similar programs have been instituted before, but with stipulations.
The most widely used plan applies only to students who took out loans after 2014.
“It would be critical for our millennials and so many others to be able to buy real estate, be good consumers and pursue the American dream,” Soto said.
He spoke by phone from Washington to Channel 9's Nancy Alvarez about why he thinks the bill could be especially helpful for graduates in Central Florida.
“Housing, particularly in Central Florida, keeps going up. We want to make sure that people have enough money to rent or buy houses and purchase goods and services to keep our economy running,” Soto said.
He plans to discuss the details at an education summit next week.