Singletary: Next president needs to address student debt, prisons
By Michelle Singletary
Published: November 4, 2016, 6:01am
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I voted early.
I’ll be out of the country on Election Day, so I wanted to make sure my vote was counted.
I’m concerned about how the outcome will impact the economy. Readers have been asking me what I think about the candidates’ economic plans. I have stayed silent because I didn’t want to hear any more of the ugliness that has marred this election cycle.
When it comes to the economy, neither Hilary Clinton nor Donald Trump has offered a strategy that seems viable given the polarization of our politics. Our next president will come into power with so much division and mistrust that it’s hard to fathom any consequential legislation getting passed by Congress.
In addition to my work as a columnist, through which I get to hear from readers nationwide, I have the privilege of being invited into the financial lives of many individuals and couples through my church’s outreach efforts. You get to know the economy’s impact so well when you sit across the table from person after person struggling to pay bills, manage debt and save for retirement and/or a child’s college education.
I’m particularly concerned about prison reform, a crisis that has largely been unaddressed during this campaign.
Yet, I see how government policy, or the lack thereof, impacts inmates. I go into prisons to counsel people who are about to be released on money management. It’s challenging helping them create a budget when they might not be able to find a job. For those who do find employment, the wages are often so low that they can’t afford housing or a reliable car to get to those jobs.
As a country, we’re good at spending money to lock folks up, but there aren’t enough resources to assist them in rejoining society in a way that will help them stay out of prison and become productive citizens.
Campaign rhetoric and grand-scheme platform policies have to give way to real and legislatively passable solutions. So here are two issues that I hope our next president will make priorities:
• Deal with student debt. As it stands, the next generations of workers will carry the heavy weight of student loans, which will impact their ability to help the economy grow.
Trump talks about forgiving debt and capping how much of a person’s income should be directed toward student loans. There are already repayment plans that do that, yet still folks are struggling.
Clinton proposes free tuition at state and community colleges. I don’t think for a moment this will happen. State governments aren’t exactly flush with cash. And what about the high cost of room and board, which in some cases can be as much as tuition and fees?
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators nicely lays out each candidate’s higher-education positions. To read more, go to www.nasfaa.org/2016_presidential_candidates.
• Ban the box. I support the campaign to eliminate questions about criminal convictions from job applications.
When ex-offenders apply for a job, many have to check a box indicating whether they’ve been convicted of a crime. Doing so can often shut down any possibility of the person getting an interview, let alone the job. (The same can be true for housing and college applications.)
Yes, employers should be checking the backgrounds of potential workers to ensure they are hiring competent employees who will not jeopardize the safety of their workers or customers. But we need to give ex-offenders a chance. Unemployment is one of the leading factors in high recidivism rates.
If you want to know more about the “Ban the Box” movement, go to the National Employment Law Project’s website, www.nelp.org/campaign/ensuring-fair-chance-to-work.
Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071; or singletarym@washpost.com.
