The attorneys general from 47 states, a number of American territories, and Washington, D.C., have submitted a request to the Department of Education seeking to discharge the student loan debts of veterans who are totally and permanently disabled or otherwise unemployable.
“As a nation, we have a moral obligation to assist those who have put their lives on the line to defend us,” wrote the AGs, who submitted the letter as part of their participation in the National Association of Attorneys General.
There are about 42,000 veterans who are eligible to receive discharges based on their status as totally and permanently disabled, accounting for more than $1 billion in unpaid student loans, but only 9,000 had applied to have their student loans discharged as of April 2018, and 25,000 of those veterans were in default on their student loan payments.
Only the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, and Texas did not sign the letter.
Should the student loan debts of disabled veterans be discharged, federal tax law would allow for the potential tax liability to be excluded from the taxable income of those veterans. But, should veterans not want to have their debts discharged or not want to have their tax liabilities waived, those individuals should have the opportunity to opt out, the AGs wrote.
“Because America’s veterans deserve better, we ask the Department to develop an automatic discharge process to ensure that all eligible veterans can have their student loans forgiven,” the AGs wrote. “We now urge the Department to take action to better protect those who once protected the nation. Our veterans deserve nothing less.”