This action is for everyone who lives in New York’s 16th congressional district. (Not sure which district you live in? Look it up here.)
We want to organize people to put pressure on members of Congress (or people who are running to become members of Congress) to cancel all student debt and make public universities completely free. This can take many forms. Reach out to each other, start talking and making plans. Here is some information that you might find helpful.
Rep. Eliot Engel ( D ) has not yet taken a position on H.R. 3473 College for All Act of 2019 (this bill would make all public colleges and universities free) or H.R. 3448 Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019 (this bill would cancel all $1.6 trillion of student debt). Can you force him to co-sponsor or publically support these bills?
There are several other candidates who are running for this seat in 2020, and their might be more who announced in the future. They include Kenneth Belvin ( D ), Jamaal Bowman ( D ), Andom Ghebreghiorgis ( D ), and Sammy Ravelo ( D ). Can you force any of them to take a position on these bills and adopt them as a part of their campaign?
Jamaal Bowman is running explicitly on free higher ed and a student debt jubilee. From his website:
Free public college and trade school. Cancel student debt.
Use the comments below to plan and coordinate with each other on a state-wide level.
Resources
The Indivisible Guide provides good advice about how to set up a meeting with your members of congress (or the people currently campaigning for office), how to show up at town halls, how to write letters to the editor, etc. We can do all of that and more. Feel free to get creative and come up with your own plans in addition to these tried and true methods.
Use this data sheet 
StudentDebt_NY16.pdf (1.1 MB) about student debt for New York’s 16th congressional district.
Use this study by economists at the Levy Institute which outlines several positive effects of canceling all student debt.
The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) have a great resources about organizing for College for All. If there is a YDSA chapter near you please reach out and coordinate with them.
