*By Justin Chermol*
The daunting task of paying back astronomical student loans may soon be less taxing, California Congressman Scott Peters tells told Cheddar Tuesday.
Rep. Peters (D-Calif.) has received 99 co-sponsors on his bipartisan Employer Participation in Repayment Act, which would allow employers to contribute to their employees' student loan payments, tax-free.
"The idea is this: if you go to work for a company, they can pay off up to $5,250 of your student loans in a year without it being income to you, so it's not taxable to you," Peters told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin.
"If you talk to any young person about ... the big thing on their mind: it's student loan debt. They're not buying a house, they're not getting a car, they're living with their parents, all because they have this burden."
According to a recent [report](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/consumer-community-context-201901.pdf) from the Federal Reserve, the rise in student loan debt from 2005 to 2014 has contributed to a decline in home ownership.
Nearly one in four American adults are paying off student loans. That amounts to over 44 million citizens who hold collectively almost $1.5 trillion in student debt.
"The average debt now, out of a public university: $30,000 for each kid," Peters said.
Peters also said that the bill could benefit the employer as well ー as educated talent will be attracted to jobs that offer this tax-free incentive.
Peter said he feels good about the bill's chances of at least making it to the House floor for a vote.
"I am more optimistic about that in this Congress with Mrs. Pelosi, rather than Mr. Ryan. I think that we are likely to deal with this issue in a serious way," Peters said. "That's the first step."
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
For President Donald Trump, tariffs — or the threat of them — can bend nations to his will.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
