Press Release: Rep. Mia Love Introduces First Bill

WASHINGTON— Congresswoman Mia Love (R-UT) introduced her first bill on Thursdayas a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act. The bill addresses the issues facing millions of college students who, while graduating with degrees, are carrying overwhelming student loan debt, and facing unemployment.   

“Prospective students are making costly and critical decisions about their education with very little or completely inaccurate information,” Rep. Mia Love said. “I recently spoke to a Salt Lake City woman whose son is a new college graduate with $80,000 in student loan debt, but no job. The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act would give students access to the tools they need to responsibly and confidently plan for their future.”

The bill is co-authored by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and has bipartisan support from co-sponsors Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Rep. John Carney (D-DE), and Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA).  The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

“The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act” would:

 Empower students and families with the tools needed for a more complete picture of the value of their education

·      Ensure accurate, easy to understand data be available online for prospective students and their families

·      Free up information that currently exists, but is not currently accessible

·      Match student records with employment and earnings data

·      Ensure results would be highly accurate and informative

·      Ensure privacy and security of student data

“Going to school to learn new skills is one of the best ways to improve your quality of life.  But it's also one of the most costly.  ‘Know Before You Go’ could help cut costs by giving students access to useful information that would help them make better-informed decisions about their education.  I’m excited to co-sponsor this commonsense reform.” -Rep. Paul Ryan

"I'm grateful for Mia's support of this legislation and the recognition that prospective college students and their families should have access to information as they consider the best institutions of higher learning and programs of study.  Doing so not only empowers individuals as students--it also empowers them as workers, equipping them to compete in today's workforce and succeed. Next to home ownership, a college education is often the most expensive investment Americans will make in their lifetime. Gaining a post-secondary degree or certificate is essential to securing employment in the modern workforce.  This bill would get information out of the archives and into the hands of the people who are investing so much in their future. “ -Rep Duncan Hunter

“With the rising cost of higher education, families and students have to make tough decisions when planning for the future. Information is power, and this legislation will improve transparency and help provide families with better tools when making these important decisions.” Rep. Trey Gowdy

“As our students graduate with ever-growing student loans, we at least owe it to them to make sure their education is worth it,” said Congressman Carney. “Students deserve to know which schools will prepare them for finding a job, and which won’t. This bill will bring transparency to a system that’s confusing and hard to navigate. I’m pleased to support this bill because with so much money on the line, students shouldn’t have to take a gamble on whether it’ll pay off.” -Rep. John Carney

Via: Utah Policy

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UTAH: Mia Love leads Matheson by 12

With the presidential race so close, we haven’t had much of an opportunity to pay attention to Congressional races — but the race in Utah’s 4th District deserves a look today.  Mia Love looks poised to become the first African-American woman elected to Congress as a Republican, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll in her district, which puts her up by twelve points over six-term incumbent Jim Matheson (via Ladies Logic):

Matheson trails Republican challenger Mia Love 52 percent to 40 percent in a new poll conducted for The Salt Lake Tribune, a large margin in a race where, even a few days ago, both campaigns were predicting a tight finish. …

The Tribune poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, found that the coalition of Democrats, independents, moderate Republicans and women that Matheson has united in past elections is failing to coalesce this time around, with just 9 percent of Republicans crossing over to support him.

That’s the key to this election.  The 2nd District has a Cook rating of R+15 [see update], which suggests that Matheson has benefited from an ability to look moderate, combined with the blessing of not having to face a charismatic and inspiring challenger.  Even the 12-point lead in this poll slightly underperforms the Republican advantage in this district, but that’s within the MoE and probably has more to do with Matheson’s status as an incumbent.  The Salt Lake Tribune also notes, though, that Love has done what other challengers couldn’t — match Matheson’s spending.

Matheson claims that his own poll shows him leading Love by two, and that 19% of Republicans support him.  He told the Tribune that he would release the poll “to all of his supporters,” which would be the first time Matheson made any of his internal polls public.  That sounds like a desperate attempt to mitigate the perception that his is a lost cause and not worth the effort on Election Day.  In a presidential election that kind of surrender seems rather unlikely — people will want to vote for President regardless of how Matheson’s doing — but the concern is still quite telling.

Update: I had forgotten that the 4th is a new district, and that the 2nd was Matheson’s old district.  There are no Cook Report stats for UT-04 that I could find.

Via: Hot Air

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GOP's Love: Focus should be on economy, not 'in the weeds' on abortion

Mia Love, the Utah mayor and rising GOP star running for Congress, backed her party’s stance on abortion but said members shouldn’t be “getting into the weeds on this.”

Love told “Fox News Sunday” that she is pro-life and that Republicans are trying to protect the lives of unborn children, but candidates and elected officials should at this point “just focus on the economy.”

She also dismissed Democrats’ argument that Republicans are waging a war on women, saying it is “a way to distract from failed policies.”

Love, who is currently mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, is trying to unseat six-term incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson, who is leading in polls. She won the nomination at the state GOP convention this spring with more than 70 percent of the vote and has national support from such party leaders as Mitt Romney and House Speaker John Boehner.

The first-generation Haitian-American stepped into the national spotlight last month with a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention.

On Sunday, she defended a decision as a city council member to increase taxes, saying the decision in part helped the then-largely agricultural Saratoga Springs prosper and achieve its AA-plus bond rating.

  

Love also argued for her plans to cut federal spending that includes reducing subsides for college tuition, despite still having outstanding loans.

Via: Fox News

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