U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action on cancelling student debt, emphasizing that student loans are a racial justice issue as well as a socioeconomic one.
“He should just cancel it outright, executive action,” Pressley said on Boston Public Radio. “He's been given the authority by Congress through the Higher Education Act, and the same authority that was used for those student loan pauses on payments can be used to cancel this debt.”
Biden has extended a pause on student loan payments that began at the start of the pandemic, but has fallen short of using executive powers to forgive debt outright.
Pressley disagreed with arguments that debt cancellation would be regressive and largely impact white borrowers. She pointed to redlining and other racist policies that prevented Black families from accumulating generational wealth and forced them to take out loans.
“It will be an effective strategy to ensure that we have a robust recovery from this pandemic-induced recession, and it will jumpstart the economy,” she said. “It's a racial justice issue as well. Just do it.”
Pressley also criticized Gov. Charlie Baker’s pandemic response, calling for stronger state action.
“He and I just really see this issue differently,” Pressley said. “Voluntary mask advisories or other half measures are just simply inexcusable, and they fall short of what is needed.”
In December, the Baker administration issued a mask advisory to encourage — but not require — individuals wear masks in public indoor spaces. The state has left mask requirements and other mandates up to the discretion of individual cities and towns.
Pressley also voiced support for a statewide implementation of vaccine mandates for restaurants, gyms and other indoor venues, similar to those going into effect in Boston on Saturday. “I don't see why not,” she said, calling for increased access to testing and N95 and KN95 masks, as well.
In the wake of Biden’s speech in Georgia Tuesday advocating for changing Senate rules, Pressley called for urgent federal action on voting rights legislation and the elimination of the filibuster.
“We did not move swiftly enough on this,” she said. “Voting rights advocates and these community-based organizations, grassroots organizations, who were so critical in delivering this democratic majority, they cannot out-organize this voter suppression. And they shouldn't be expected to.”
Pressley called bipartisanship a “talking point,” and supported Biden’s call for immediate legislative action. “Failure is not an option,” she said.
