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Des Moines Register

Iowa among GOP states suing Biden administration to halt student loan forgiveness plan

By Seung Min Kim - Sep 29

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa is among six Republican-led states suing the Biden administration to try to halt its plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans, accusing it of overstepping its executive powers.

President Joe Biden forgives $10,000 in student loan debt for millions of Americans

It’s at least the second legal challenge this week to the sweeping proposal laid out by President Joe Biden in late August, when he said his administration would cancel up to $20,000 in education debt for huge numbers of borrowers. The announcement, after months of internal deliberations and pressure from liberal activists, became immediate political fodder ahead of the November midterms while fueling arguments from conservatives about legality.

In the lawsuit, being filed Thursday in a federal court in Missouri, the Republican states argue that Biden's cancellation plan is “not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers,” as required by the 2003 federal law that the administration is using as legal justification. They point out that Biden, in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes” this month, declared the COVID-19 pandemic over, yet is still using the ongoing health emergency to justify the wide-scale debt relief.

“It’s patently unfair to saddle hard-working Americans with the loan debt of those who chose to go to college,” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who is leading the group, said in an interview.

She added: “The Department of Education is required, under the law, to collect the balance due on loans. And President Biden does not have the authority to override that.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds calls Biden plan 'an insult to working people'

The states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina joined Arkansas in filing the lawsuit.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is a Democrat, but Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed on Iowa's behalf.

Reynolds had also signed onto a joint letter with 21 other Republican governors earlier this month voicing concerns about Biden's loan forgiveness plan, including that he lacked the power to do it.

“A significant majority of Americans have already paid off their student loans or chose not to pursue a higher education degree at all,” Reynolds said in a statement Thursday. “By forcing them to pay for other people’s loans ― regardless of income — President Biden’s mass debt cancellation punishes these Americans and belittles the path they chose. This expensive, unlawful plan is an insult to working people and must be stopped.”

The states argue that Missouri's loan servicer is facing a “number of ongoing financial harms” because of Biden's decision to cancel loans. Other states that joined the lawsuit argue that Biden's forgiveness plan will ultimately disrupt revenue to state coffers.

More:How student loan forgiveness will affect Iowans, who owe an average of $31,000

Biden’s forgiveness program will cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, will get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.

The administration also said it would extend the current pause on federal student loan repayments — put on hold near the start of the pandemic more than two years ago — once more through the end of the year.

The administration faced threats of legal challenges to its plans almost immediately, with conservative attorneys, Republican lawmakers and business-oriented groups asserting that Biden was overstepping his authority in taking such sweeping action without the assent of Congress.

Democratic lawmakers battling in tough reelection contests also distanced themselves from the student loan plan. Republican officials have called it an unfair government giveaway for relatively affluent people at the expense of those who didn’t pursue higher education.

Republican attorneys say plan violates lawful procedures

In their lawsuit, the Republican attorneys general also contend that the forgiveness program violates the Administrative Procedures Act, which lays out how federal agencies should make regulations in order to ensure executive branch policies are well-reasoned and explained.

“The president does not have the authority to put himself in the place of Congress,” Rutledge said in the interview. “These actions must be taken by Congress and he can’t override that.”

To justify the plan’s legality, the Biden administration is relying on a post-Sept. 11, 2001, law meant to help members of the military. The Justice Department says the law allows Biden to reduce or erase student loan debt during a national emergency. But Republicans argue the administration is misinterpreting the law because, in part, the pandemic no longer qualifies as a national emergency.

Another lawsuit against Biden’s student loan program was filed this week in an Indiana federal court by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian legal advocacy group that employs a lawyer who says he would be harmed by the forgiveness plan. The lawyer, Frank Garrison, says erasing his current debt load will trigger a tax liability from the state of Indiana, which is among at least a half dozen states where the forgiven loan amounts will be subject to state taxes.

The White House dismissed the lawsuit as baseless because any borrower who does not want the debt relief can opt out. The Education Department is still on track to unveil the application for the forgiveness plan in early October.

Republicans have also seized on the Biden plan’s price tag and its impact on the nation’s budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office said this week that the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades. The White House countered that the CBO’s estimate of how much the plan will cost just in its first year, $21 billion, is lower than what the administration initially believed.

Register staff writer Ian Richardson and Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa among GOP states suing Biden administration to halt student loan forgiveness plan

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CMD

group Linked to Anti-Abortion Activist Leonard Leo Was Top Funder of Republican AG Campaigns in 2022

By David Armiak

|

February 2nd, 2023

Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, Featured Investigations, Koch, News, RAGA

A group tied to the influential anti-abortion activist Leonard Leo gave $3 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) in the fourth quarter, making it the largest contributor to the organization in 2022, according to an analysis of IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

The Concord Fund, a dark money group affiliated with the Trump “judge whisperer” and Federalist Society board co-chair, also made a $1-million contribution to RAGA in the first quarter, bringing its total for the year to $4 million.

This again makes The Concord Fund RAGA’s largest funder in 2022, continuing a trend that began in 2020 and was repeated in 2021.

Leo’s increasing influence on local legal landscapes comes as the fight over reproductive rights moves to the states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision last summer overturning Roe v. Wade.

The largest known financial backer of Leo’s political network is Barre Seid, the Chicago electronics manufacturer who contributed $1.65 billion to his Marble Freedom Trust in 2020, which, in turn, passed along $16.5 million to The Concord Fund, The New York Times reported.

RAGA pays Leo’s Creative Response Concepts—rebranded as CRC Advisors—$7,500 per month for “consulting,” according to 2022 IRS filings.

With its $1.5 million in contributions, the Institute for Legal Reform was the second largest donor to RAGA in 2022, CMD found. This affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focuses on advancing business-friendly legal reforms such as making class-action lawsuits more difficult to file and defending business interests in court.

A Koch Industries contribution of $755,000 and Altria’s $500,000 donation rounded out the top four 2022 donors to RAGA.

Charles Koch, the billionaire CEO of Koch Industries, has not only heavily financed RAGA over the years—both personally and through his companies—he is also a key contractor for the organization. RAGA continues to subscribe to i360, “Koch’s data mine,” for $4,000 a month, 2022 IRS filings show.

RAGA’s post-general report and year-end report indicate that the organization raised a total of $8.3 million in the fourth quarter, bringing its total revenues to $21.7 million for the year and $34.5 million for the midterm election cycle.

In the fourth quarter, the next largest contributions behind The Concord Fund’s $3 million came from the Rule of Law Defense Fund ($400,000), RAGA’s 501(c)(4) advocacy arm; billionaire real estate tycoon Steve Wynn ($300,000); and GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein‘s Fair Courts America ($250,100).

Together with its affiliates, the Rule of Law Defense Fund and the Center for Law and Policy, RAGA runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of Republican state attorneys general and sells its corporate funders access to those AGs and their staff.

IFrame Content

RAGA Spends Big on Elections, Funnels $1.9 Million to Georgia Governor's Leadership Committee

RAGA spent more than $16 million in the final weeks before the November 2022 elections, bringing its cycle spending total to $36.6 million. In October and November, most of that went to independent expenditures for state AG races, including close to $6.5 million for TV ads, $1.3 million for direct mail and text messages, and $773,000 for digital advertising.

In an unusual move, RAGA also disclosed contributing $1.9 million to the Georgians First Leadership Committee set up by Georgia’s GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, the post-general report shows.

Kemp won a second term in November by again defeating Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

RAGA's next largest campaign donation in the fourth quarter was for $800,000 to the Bird for Iowa AG race. Brenna Bird (R) narrowly defeated longtime incumbent Tom Miller (D), winning 50.8% of the vote to oust her predecessor from an almost 40-year run as the country's longest-serving attorney general.

The Iowa race clearly proved to be a top priority for RAGA, which disclosed spending a total of $2 million in 2022 to elect Bird, CMD calculated.

RAGA's other campaign contributions in the fourth quarter went to Louisiana candidate for AG Liz Murrill ($5,000); South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson ($3,500), who won reelection to his fourth term in November; and Kentucky candidate for AG Russell Coleman ($2,000).

Both the Louisiana and Kentucky AG races are ongoing, with the election in Louisiana taking place on October 14 this year, and the Kentucky election following on November 7.

https://news.yahoo.com › iowa-attorney-general-tom-miller-215124650.html

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to return illegal $50,000 PAC campaign ...

May 19, 2022Miller is the longest currently serving attorney general in the U.S. He is seeking his 11th four-year term this fall. He will face Republican Brenna Bird. Neither have a primary opponent in the...

https://www.thegazette.com › campaigns-elections › iowa-ag-candidate-brenna-bird-uses-transgender-case-to-go-after-incumbent-tom-miller

Iowa AG candidate Bird uses transgender case against Miller

2 days agoDemocratic incumbent Tom Miller and Republican challenger Brenna Bird, the 2022 candidates for Iowa Attorney General, discuss issues during taping of "Iowa Press" at Iowa PBS studios in Johnston ...

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https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov › newsroom › miller-student-loan-debt-cancel-corinthian-profit

Miller applauds debt cancellation for former ... - Iowa Attorney General

Jun 7, 2022  DES MOINES — Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller commends the U.S. Department of Education's actions to cancel $5.8 billion in student loan balances for students who attended Corinthian Colleges, a defunct for-profit college chain. "This will provide long-needed relief for student loan borrowers in Iowa and across the nation," Miller said.

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Six red states —

Arkansas,

Says, ‘Biden’s unlawful political play puts the self-wrought college-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans’

LITTLE ROCK— Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the U.S. Department of Education for:{violating federal law when the Biden Administration attempted to categorically cancel student loan debt in August. The suit alleges that Biden violated federal law, the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Actwhen he skirted congressional authority to implement this policy.}:

“President Biden’s unlawful political play puts the self-wrought college-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling to pay their utility bills and home loans in the midst of Biden’s inflation,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “President Biden does not have the power to arbitrarily erase the college debt of adults who chose to take out those loans.”

The lawsuit highlights that President Biden knew he did not have the proper authority to authorize this type of executive action, which is why he attempted to work with Congress to find a legitimate and legal solution to the student loan crisis. After Congress routinely failed to pass legislation addressing the issue, Biden attempted to unilaterally act far beyond the authority granted to him by the Constitution. This action will result in approximately half a trillion dollars in losses to the federal treasury and contribute to the already rampant inflation the nation is experiencing.  

The Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, summarized it best when she said, “people think the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not.”

Joining Arkansas in the suit are the states of: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina.

Iowa,  https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov › about-us › about-attorney-general-tom-miller

About Attorney General Tom Miller | Iowa Attorney General

Attorney General Tom Miller is serving in his 10th four-year term as Attorney General of Iowa. He is the longest currently serving attorney general in the nation. He was born in Dubuque on August 11, 1944, the son of the late Elmer and Betty Miller.

Kansas, dacaDerek Schmidt of Kansas,

Missouri,https://ago.mo.gov › about-us › about-ag-schmitt

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt

Eric Schmitt was sworn in as the 43rd Attorney General for the State of Missouri on January 3, 2019. As Attorney General, Eric is focused on keeping Missouri families safe and upholding the rule of law. As the lawyer for all six million Missourians, Eric is fighting each and every day to protect opportunities for the next generation.

Nebraska,

https://ago.nebraska.gov › ag-peterson

AG Peterson | Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson

Attorney General Doug Peterson - To serve the citizens of Nebraska and Nebraska's elected officials with fidelity to our U.S. Constitution, State Constitution, and Nebraska law.and

South Carolina

https://ag.jasonfoundation.com › sc

South Carolina Attorney General - Alan Wilson - AG

South Carolina Attorney General - Alan Wilson. Youth suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for our young people ages 10-24 in our nation and 3rd in South Carolina today. In South Carolina, the 2013 CDC's Youth Risk Behavioral Survey reported over ONE out of every EIGHT of our youth "seriously considered" suicide and that over ONE out ...

— are suing the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden over Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year.

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dereg nation

better: the Trump administration’s expensive, dirty power plan is on its way to court

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Bridgepoint Education, a for-profit online school that has been under scrutiny for what Mr. Miller, the Iowa attorney general, called “unconscionable sales practices,” turned to Dickstein to set up meetings with Ms. Bondi’s staff, to urge her not to join in the inquiries underway in several states. Again, her office decided not to take up the matter, citing the small number of complaints about Bridgepoint it has received.

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Thomas John "Tom" Miller (born August 11, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who currently serves as the Attorney General of Iowa. After the defeat of West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw in 2012, Miller became the longest continuously serving state attorney general in the United States.

Contents

Early life and education

Miller was raised in Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated from Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque, earned his undergraduate degree at Loras College in Dubuque, and completed his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1969.[1]

Early career

He served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in Baltimore for one year and as a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. John Culver of Iowa, worked for the Baltimore Legal Aid Bureau, and taught at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Miller returned to northeast Iowa in 1973 and opened a law practice in McGregor, Iowa. He served as the city attorney for McGregor and Marquette for five years.

Terms in office

Miller was first elected Attorney General of Iowa in 1978. He is serving his ninth four-year term as of 2015, and is the longest-serving state attorney general in the nation. He was re-elected in 1982 and 1986. In 1990 he ran for governor, and lost in the state party primary election the Democratic Party's nomination to Donald Avenson. He worked in private practice with the Des Moines office of the Faegre & Benson Law Firm. Miller was again elected Attorney General of Iowa in 1994, and was re-elected in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014.[2]

Career as Attorney General

On March 6, 2014, Miller joined a lawsuit targeting California's prohibition on the sale of eggs laid by caged hens kept in conditions more restrictive than those approved by California voters. In October 2014, a California judge dismissed the lawsuit, rejecting the arguments of the attorneys-general concerning California'sProposition 2, a 2008 ballot initiative. Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled that Iowa and the other states lacked legal standing to sue on behalf of their residents and that the plaintiffs were representing the interests of egg farmers, rather than "a substantial statement of their populations." Iowa joined the lawsuit after Representative Steve King's attempt to overturn the California law via the federal farm bill failed.[3][4][5][6][7] A DesMoines Register article noted that the rejection of the Koster challenge and a similar lawsuit targeting California's prohibition on the sale of foie gras should prompt the reconsideration of litigation strategies by ag state officials, and encouraged instead the embrace of legislative solutions aiming for national, uniform standards like those embodied in the Egg Products Inspection Act of 2013, scuttled in the U.S. Congress by beef and pork producers.[8][9]

References

1.

  1. http://www.egg-cite.com/news/single.aspx?contentID=2104

External links

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