Staff Writer

Last month, President Joe Biden announced plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt, with the forgiveness targeted primarily at working and middle class households. In the weeks following the announcement, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has joined 21 other Republican governors from around the country in opposing the President’s decision.  

In a letter written by the group, they said the initiative would negatively impact inflation and that the President’s plan “rewards the rich and punishes the poor.” The group added that the plan was unfair to individuals who had worked hard to pay off their loans. 

Kemp’s history with his own loan forgiveness has, however, raised eyebrows. In 2020, Kemp’s company Specialty Stone LLC received a PPP loan for $38,137, which was forgiven by the government in 2021. Kemp, over the last 15 years, has also taken out millions of dollars in loans from First Madison Bank and Trust, where he was a founding board member and stockholder. The loans were paid back late with no consequences. And in the run-up to his 2018 campaign, Kemp settled a lawsuit out of court that alleged he failed to pay back a loan he had secured for agricultural business Hart AgStrong. 

Kemp has yet to make any public remarks explaining his decision to oppose Biden’s student loan forgiveness initiative or about his own experience with loan forgiveness.