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I'm Stephanie Wolf with a brief look
at the latest news in Texas politics and

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policy from the Texas Tribune. The
US Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's

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student debt forgiveness plan last week.
That, coupled with the end of COVID

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related relief, means Texans with college
loans will be expected to resume or begin

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payments later this year. Texans have
the second highest amount of student debt in

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the country, behind Californians, and
the High Court's decision affects one point four

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million of those Texas borrowers who had
already been approved for forgiveness of student loan

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debt. There are, however,
other changes in the works that could ease

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their financial load, such as the
Saving on a Valuable Education Plan or save

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It's, an update to the revised
pay as You Earn Plan, a large

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federal program that calculates payments based on
one's income. Under the current iteration,

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borrowers pay ten percent of their discretionary
income each year aka the part of their

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earnings that exceeds one hundred and twenty
five percent of the poverty guideline. In

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a number of cases, the payments
calculated with this method end up lower than

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the monthly interest. The unpaid interest
gets added to the overall debt, meaning

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borrowers, despite compliance, see their
debt go up. With the SAVE update,

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this will no longer happen, and
any remaining debt after twenty years of

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on time payments would be canceled.
Borrowers might also be eligible for the pay

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as you earn plan, the Income
based Repayment Plan, and the Income Contingent

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Repayment Plan. The updated SAVE program
doesn't go into effect until this time next

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year, though several aspects of it
are slated to kick in before the October

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deadline for borrowers to resume their monthly
payments. That includes changing the definition of

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discretionary income, ending a cruel of
unpaid interest, and allowing married borrowers to

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file separate tax returns for income calculation
purposes. Less than twenty percent of Texas

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borrowers are on income driven repayment plans. Groups that advocate for affordable higher education

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say many don't know these plans even
exist. Roughly one hundred Houston area criminal

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appeals were recently found after essentially being
lost for the last decade plus. Judges

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and attorneys have been scratching their heads
over how this could have happened and whether

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anything can be done to address the
legal questions raised in the appeals. A

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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge labeled
them the Lost and Found cases. They

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were discovered last year, according to
a county district Clerk's office. In a

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statement, the office said judges found
dozens appending cases in which people were challenging

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the constitutionality of their convictions or sentences. They were all filed in or before

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twenty thirteen. A procedural rule change
in twenty thirteen mandated district clerks to send

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such cases to the state's Court of
Criminal Appeals within six months after filing.

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Officials say the cases have since been
forwarded to the state's highest criminal court,

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but offered no explanation as to why
there were years long delays in the first

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place. It's unknown how many other
criminal appeals went unheard, and it's also

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not clear whether the approximately one hundred
recently discovered cases will get their day in

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court. A University of Texas criminal
law professor says the passage of time will

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also complicate a fair adjudication, and
adds that it will ultimately fall on the

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Court of Criminal Appeals to determine the
course of action. Check for updates to

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any of these stories at Texas Tribune
dot org, and follow the Brief podcast

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for daily news updates wherever you get
your podcasts. I'm Stephanie Wolf with the

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Texas Tribune. You've been briefed.
Today's Brief is brought to you by Texas

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BioMed. Texas BioMed pioneers and shares
scientific breakthroughs that protect communities. Health starts

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with science. Health Starts at Texas
BioMed. Visit tx BioMed dot org for

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more, and here from Colin Allred, Barry Weiss, Douglas Brinkley, Mary

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Trump, and many others at the
twenty twenty three Texas Tribune Festival That's happening

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September twenty first to the twenty third
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matter with leaders and politics, technology, education, and culture. Learn more

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at tripfest dot org