Mason acknowledged a public hearing doesn’t signal the bill is destined to pass both houses of the state Legislature, but said it was a good step in educating lawmakers one why the bill is a good idea.

“A public hearing means legislators will hear from the public on how big and deep the problem is for people across the state and across party lines,” Mason said. “It is a substantial problem for people in this economy.”

Original research from the Institute for One Wisconsin released in 2012 shows the detrimental economic impact of student loan debt, finding it reduces new car purchasing in Wisconsin by over $200 million annually and that middle class households with student loan debt are overwhelmingly more likely to rent than own a home.

Scot Ross, executive director of the Institute for One Wisconsin and One Wisconsin Now, noted that some steps have been taken to undo the damage of law changes adopted in the mid and late 1990s, including making the government the originator of federal loans, capping loan payments at a fixed percentage of household income and limiting the term of loans.