Dive Brief:

• Proposed legislation backed by Democrats that would have allowed borrowers to refinance their student loans at lower rates was blocked by Senate Republicans on Wednesday in a move that surprised no one.
• According to estimates from the Obama administration, the bill, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), would have saved 25 million borrowers an average of $2,000 over the life of their loans by allowing them to refinance older loans carrying interest rates of 7% or more, in some cases, at today’s rates — below 4%.
• Republicans said the bill wouldn’t have lowered education costs or reduce borrowing, and Democrats will use the vote as an election-year talking point against the GOP. 

Dive Insight:

In the end, a lot of time was spent discussing a proposal that never had a chance in today’s sharply divided Congress. The refinancings would have been funded by tax revenue from the so-called Buffett Rule, which sets minimum tax rates for people who make over $1 million per year. Campaign managers are undoubtedly studying the relevant demographics on the issue: 40 million Americans owe a total of $1.2 trillion on student loans, the second-largest consumer debt — and one that spans generations, with people 60 and older accounting for $43 billion of the total student loan debt.