To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt qualified student loan bonds from the volume cap and the alternative minimum tax.
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Rep. Feenstra, Randy [R-IA-4]
ID: F000446
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7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the esteemed Representative Feenstra and his cohorts in Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The bill's ostensible purpose is to exempt qualified student loan bonds from the volume cap and alternative minimum tax (AMT). How noble! They're trying to "help" students by making it easier for lenders to issue bonds that fund student loans. Cue the violins.
In reality, this bill is a thinly veiled attempt to line the pockets of lenders and investors while pretending to address the student loan crisis. It's a classic case of "do no harm, but make sure our donors are happy."
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends sections 146(g) and 57(a)(5)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code to exempt qualified student loan bonds from the volume cap and AMT. This means lenders can issue more bonds without worrying about hitting the volume cap, and investors won't have to pay AMT on their bond income.
Oh, and there's a special rule for pooled financing bond rules because, you know, students are just too complicated to include in the definition of "ultimate borrower." Give me a break. This is just a way to further obfuscate the already Byzantine world of tax law.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects will benefit from this bill:
1. Lenders and investors who issue and buy student loan bonds. 2. Representative Feenstra's donors, who likely include lenders and financial institutions. 3. Students... just kidding! They'll still be saddled with crippling debt, but hey, at least the lenders will make more money.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It does nothing to address the root causes of the student loan crisis, such as skyrocketing tuition costs and stagnant wages. Instead, it provides a temporary fix that benefits lenders and investors at the expense of taxpayers.
By exempting qualified student loan bonds from the volume cap and AMT, this bill will likely lead to:
1. Increased borrowing costs for students, as lenders take advantage of the new rules to issue more bonds. 2. Reduced tax revenue for the government, which will have to be made up by increasing taxes on other sources or cutting spending elsewhere. 3. Further entrenchment of the student loan industrial complex, making it even harder for students to escape the debt trap.
In conclusion, HR 2660 is a cynical attempt to perpetuate the status quo while pretending to help students. It's a legislative placebo, designed to make politicians look good without actually addressing the problem. Bravo, Representative Feenstra! You've managed to create a bill that's both useless and harmful. That takes skill.
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đź’° Campaign Finance Network
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Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 341 — Department of Education market prices and signals to influence educational borrowing, introducing consumer-driven accountability into higher education. Pell grants should retain their current voucher-like structure. If Congress is unwilling to reform federal student aid, then the next Adminis- tration should consider the following reforms: l Switch to fair-value accounting from FCRA accounting, and l Consolidate all federal loan programs into one new program that 1. Utilizes income-driven repayment, 2. Includes no interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness, 3. Includes annual and aggregate limits on borrowing, and 4. Requires “skin in the game” from colleges to help hold them accountable for loan repayment. The Biden Administration has mercilessly pillaged the student loan portfolio for crass political purposes without regard to the needs of current taxpayers or future students. This must never happen again. l As detailed in Section III, the next Administration should work with Congress to spin off federal student aid into a new government corporation with professional governance and management. NEW POLICY PRIORITIES FOR 2025 AND BEYOND New Legislation That Should Be Prioritized For nearly 250 years, Congress has incorporated public and private institutions, including banks, the District of Columbia’s city government, and other organiza- tions that federal officials deem to be conducting operations in the public interest. Such charters offer a certain status to organizations, often viewed as a “seal of approval” according to one Congressional Research Service report, which can help these organizations in their fundraising and other advocacy efforts. When the nation’s largest teacher association, the National Education Associ- ation (NEA), cites its federal charter, it lends the NEA a level of significance and suggests an effectiveness that is not supported by evidence. In fact, the NEA and the nation’s other large teacher union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT),
Introduction
— 341 — Department of Education market prices and signals to influence educational borrowing, introducing consumer-driven accountability into higher education. Pell grants should retain their current voucher-like structure. If Congress is unwilling to reform federal student aid, then the next Adminis- tration should consider the following reforms: l Switch to fair-value accounting from FCRA accounting, and l Consolidate all federal loan programs into one new program that 1. Utilizes income-driven repayment, 2. Includes no interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness, 3. Includes annual and aggregate limits on borrowing, and 4. Requires “skin in the game” from colleges to help hold them accountable for loan repayment. The Biden Administration has mercilessly pillaged the student loan portfolio for crass political purposes without regard to the needs of current taxpayers or future students. This must never happen again. l As detailed in Section III, the next Administration should work with Congress to spin off federal student aid into a new government corporation with professional governance and management. NEW POLICY PRIORITIES FOR 2025 AND BEYOND New Legislation That Should Be Prioritized For nearly 250 years, Congress has incorporated public and private institutions, including banks, the District of Columbia’s city government, and other organiza- tions that federal officials deem to be conducting operations in the public interest. Such charters offer a certain status to organizations, often viewed as a “seal of approval” according to one Congressional Research Service report, which can help these organizations in their fundraising and other advocacy efforts. When the nation’s largest teacher association, the National Education Associ- ation (NEA), cites its federal charter, it lends the NEA a level of significance and suggests an effectiveness that is not supported by evidence. In fact, the NEA and the nation’s other large teacher union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), — 342 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise use litigation and other efforts to block school choice and advocate for additional taxpayer spending in education. They also lobbied to keep schools closed during the pandemic. All of these positions run contrary to robust research evidence showing positive outcomes for students from education choice policies; there is no conclusive evidence that more taxpayer spending on schools improves student outcomes; and evidence finds that keeping schools closed to in-person learning resulted in negative emotional and academic outcomes for students. Furthermore, the union promotes radical racial and gender ideologies in schools that parents oppose according to nationally representative surveys. l Congress should rescind the National Education Association’s congressional charter and remove the false impression that federal taxpayers support the political activities of this special interest group. This move would not be unprecedented, as Congress has rescinded the federal charters of other organizations over the past century. The NEA is a demonstrably radical special interest group that overwhelmingly supports left-of-center policies and policymakers. l Members should conduct hearings to determine how much federal taxpayer money the NEA has used for radical causes favoring a single political party. Parental Rights in Education and Safeguarding Students l Federal officials should protect educators and students in jurisdictions under federal control from racial discrimination by reinforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibiting compelled speech. Specifically, no teacher or student in Washington, D.C., public schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, or Department of Defense schools should be compelled to believe, profess, or adhere to any idea, but especially ideas that violate state and federal civil rights laws. By its very design, critical race theory has an “applied” dimension, as its found- ers state in their essays that define the theory. Those who subscribe to the theory believe that racism (in this case, treating individuals differently based on race) is appropriate—necessary, even—making the theory more than merely an analyti- cal tool to describe race in public and private life. The theory disrupts America’s Founding ideals of freedom and opportunity. So, when critical race theory is used as part of school activities such as mandatory affinity groups, teacher training programs in which educators are required to confess their privilege, or school
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.