Statewide Iowa — The three candidates competing for the Iowa Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination say college student debt is a problem, but during a debate Thursday night on Iowa PBS they disagreed about providing relief to borrowers.
Mike Franken of Sioux City says wage stagnation and the profits banks and investors make from college loans have made the situation worse.
Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids suggests college debt relief could be offered as an incentive to get college grads to settle in places where there’s been population loss.
Glenn Hurst, a physician from Minden, supports not only wiping out current college loan debt, but paying back people who paid off their loans.
On another subject the candidates agree that congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to abortion nationwide. Finkenauer said as a 33-year-old woman, her presence in the Senate would send a strong message as lawmakers debate abortion rights.
As the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v Wade, Franken says it’s time to put the framework of the opinion in federal law, without additional restrictions.
Hurst supports expanding the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 19 justices.
Finkenauer says congress should consider term limits for Supreme Court justices. Franken suggests justices should be limited to serving no more than 18 years. These three candidates are asking Primary voters to choose them as the General Election challenger to Republican Chuck Grassley. Grassley, who is seeking an eighth term in the U.S. Senate, is widely expected to defeat a primary challenger. Jim Carlin, a Republican state senator from Sioux City, had about 54-hundred dollars cash on hand in his campaign account at the end of March.
