This action is for everyone who lives in New York’s 5th 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.
Gregory Meeks ( 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?
So far Shaniyat Chowdhury ( D ) is the only other candidate who has announced a run for this seat in 2020, although there might be more who announced in the future. Great news! Chowdhury is explicitly running on College For All and is making this a centerpiece of his campaign. On his website he says:
Shan believes public colleges and vocational schools across the country should be tuition free. He supports the College for All Act of 2019, which would eliminate student loan debt across the board.
It isn’t just important to put pressure on candidates to support real solutions, it is also important to thank them when they do the right thing. Please thank Chowdhury for supporting a student debt jubilee! We can also use Chowdhury’s support to put more pressure on Rep. Meeks to co-sponsor H.R. 3473 and H.R. 3448.
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_NY05.pdf (1.1 MB) about student debt for New York’s 5th 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.
