A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office adds to mounting evidence that pending legislation to overhaul college lending will cost taxpayers billions more than Democrats have acknowledged. At the request of Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the Education and Labor Committee’s top Republican, CBO re-examined the cost of reforms to the Pell Grant program included in H.R. 3221. Its findings revealed an additional $11.4 billion in spending – costs that will be passed on to taxpayers in the form of deficit spending on a piece of legislation touted by its supporters as reducing the federal deficit. Democrats reportedly plan to call for a vote on the measure by the full U.S. House of Representatives next week.
“Describing this legislation as fiscally responsible has always been a dubious claim. The proposal hinges on increasing our debt to foreign nations by tens of billions of dollars each year, and using the supposed savings to – you guessed it – spend billions of dollars more to expand the federal government even further,” said Kline. “Now, with yet another nonpartisan analysis showing significant hidden costs in this out-of-control spending spree, it’s time to put on the brakes. The American people deserve to know what they’re being asked to spend before Congress adds another charge to the federal credit card.”
In its re-estimate, CBO used more current data to predict the number of college students expected to qualify for Pell Grants and the amount of the grant under the Democrats’ proposed legislation. Their review predicted an additional $10.5 billion in mandatory, or entitlement, spending over the next 10 years, along with $900 million in additional discretionary spending, which is included in the annual spending bills approved by Congress. But thanks to arcane budget rules, Democrats can use older figures to present the official cost of the legislation, effectively shielding taxpayers from knowing about the additional $11.4 billion in spending that would be required under the plan.
“CBO is confirming what commonsense has told us all along – a massive expansion of the federal government will be costly to taxpayers in the long run,” said Kline. “Democrats are saving less, spending more, and rushing to enact a plan that will eliminate choice and competition for students while burdening taxpayers with billions in new spending.”
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