The House of Representatives yesterday voted by a 273-149 margin to pass the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. The bill seeks to reduce college costs by investing $18 billion over the next five years in college aid. Interest rates on federally subsidized loans would also be decreased from 6.8% to 3.4% over five years. According to House Democrats, the bill has no cost to taxpayers and is funded by cutting "excess subsidies" paid by the federal government to lenders in the student loan industry. Grand Rapids area Representative Vern Ehlers voted against the measure, as did West Michigan's Holland area Representative Pete Hoekstra.
The vote should be seen within the context of a report earlier this year that declared Ehlers to be a "Public Enemy of the Middle Class" for his voting record in the House of Representatives. The March 2007 report by Americans United for Change named Ehlers for his "full frontal, unapologetic assault on the middle class agenda." The group highlighted Ehlers' votes against increase the federal minimum wage and legislation making it easier to form unions and bargain with employers.
