Student loan debt is a key issue in upcoming election for millions of borrowers, expert says

This week, a judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan for a second time. This happened just one day after a federal judge greenlit the program to move forward. News4Jax reporter Brianna Andrews spoke with a national financial non-profit that offers educational resources exploring how this could influence the upcoming presidential election. $1.74 trillion is how much Americans owe in federal and private student loan debt, according to LendingTree. This is no small number. Over a quarter of the population currently have an outstanding student loan or someone close to them, such as a child or grandchild. Billy J. Hensley is the president of the National Endowment for Financial Education. How do you think this will impact our economy long-term? Well, you know, what I'm really concerned about is two elements of this. The first is our people maximizing their retirement saving. And then the emergency savings. We've all been in that boat where the water heater breaks or we have the flat tire. And when we don't have the extra room in the budget to have a little put aside for a rainy day. On Thursday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a temporary block on the Biden administration's student debt relief plan. The plan aims to give financial relief to more than 30 million Americans, but had been on hold since September. Federal judges blocked it by arguing Biden overstepped his authority. A Georgia federal judge ended that pause Wednesday before a second block went into effect. Hensley believes the handling of student loans will play a pivotal role on shaping the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. 64% actually of borrowers say the topic of student loans should be a major platform consideration of candidates. This is tens of millions of people, voters. And in no age or political demographic does that opinion fall under 50%. And this holds regardless of political affiliation. With less than a month left until Election Day, the countdown continues. Brianna Andrews, Channel 4, The Local Station.