Dear Friends, Virginians, citizens of Fairfax:

Sometimes the most significant victories happen quietly.

Last year, one of my signature campaign issues was "student loan reform." A brief history: the Federal government has traditionally provided access to credit for college and university students. Generations of young people (including me) have benefited from this system which provided loans to those with no credit history. These loans were then guaranteed, packaged and resold as securities by a Congressionally-chartered entity known as "Sallie Mae."

During the late 1990's, the process was privatized. Congress authorized Sallie Mae to begin selling loans at the retail level. At the same time, Congress permitted other companies to become "student loan vendors" marketing their products to college and graduate students. Suddenly the profit motive entered the student loan market.

The door was open for abuse. And it happened.

Access to students became a multi-million dollar proposition. Loan companies promised gifts to college administrators in exchange for "exclusive lending relationships" which left students captive to high rates and no competition. Meanwhile, Congress kept student debtors locked-in with rules that denied students basic debtor protections, including the right to protect disability income or file bankruptcy.

In 2006, the issue was highlighted by a report from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and on "Sixty Minutes."

Last year, during my campaign, I held a press conference at George Mason to promise a "Student Bill of Rights" if I was elected.

On the first day of the 2008 session, Senator Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) and I filed legislation to outlaw these abuses in Virginia, specifically the exclusive lending agreements.

Our bill passed the Senate, then the House. On March 12th, the Governor signed it into law.

We held the press conference in September 2007 to announce our plan to change the law. The law will be changed on July 1st, 2008.

That's a good feeling.

Richmond Update: The Senate will reconvene on April 23rd for the veto session. It is likely we will take up the transportation issue soon after.

In the meantime, we are home! Please feel free to contact us at 703-349-3361 or www.fairfaxsenator.com. Or check our blog at www.oxroadsouth.com.

Let us know how we can represent you better.

Sincerely,

Chap Petersen

Visit us at www.fairfaxsenator.com