A Michigan congressman is proposing legislation to help people struggling with student loan debt.
U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee’s package of bills includes a proposal to make it easier for people filing for bankruptcy to include their student loan debt.
“Only under rare circumstances can student debt be discharged in a bankruptcy. So ... it creates a disincentives for people to try to go to college,” says Kildee.
A 2011 studyshows 40% of bankruptcy filers who include their student loans in their filings get hardship exemptions.
But that same study showed less than 1% of people filing for bankruptcy specifically ask for relief from their student loans.
Kildee also plans to introduce bills giving people struggling with student loan debt tax relief and protection from unfair lenders.
