April 10, 2009
Both the House and Senate have completed work on their respective budget resolutions. The House version contains $1 billion in reconciliation instructions to the House Education and Labor Committee. The Senate version does not contain reconciliation instructions, but a recent press release introduces an amendment offered by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that expresses support for a competitive student loan program to provide students and higher education institutions a comprehensive choice of loan products and services.
Next steps include conference negotiations between the two budget committees. Although Congress is currently in spring recess for two weeks, initial work by staffers is expected to begin this week. If the House prevails in conference negotiations, this portion of the budget proposal might be included in a congressional budget reconciliation bill, resulting in an abrupt end to the FFELP without allowing adequate time for appropriate discussion and informed decision making. Therefore, it’s critical that Oklahoma FFELP supporters continue efforts to reach out to the congressional delegation and key budget leaders in opposition to any budget reconciliation outcome of the House and Senate conference committee process and in support of the FFELP.
OGSLP will continue its work with the Oklahoma delegation, with lenders, and on the national scene to ensure that Congress understands the value of services provided through the FFELP and that key legislators are aware of viable alternatives to a full-scale switch to the Direct Loan program.
Thank you for your support. We will keep you updated as discussions continue. If you have questions, please contact Rick Edington, Director for School/Lender Services, Default Prevention & Outreach at 405.234.4333 or redington@ogslp.org.