HARRISBURG -- How would you like a loan of up to $10,000, with zero percent interest?
You don't qualify, but the state senator and representative that you elected do.
That loan is being offered because state lawmakers and the governor can't agree on a budget. The zero-interest loan is being offered by the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union.
It's only being offered to state lawmakers and their staffers, even though they are still getting paid during the budget standoff.
Almost every student in a government affairs class at King's College in Wilkes-Barre said they have student loans. Most of these young people will graduate owing thousands of dollars--plus interest--on those loans.
"What are the chances you could get a zero-percent interest loan?"
"Considering I'm 19 years old, and new to credit, and in college, little to none," said Alyssa Gurzinsky of Mocanaqua.
"I wish I could pull out a loan for any reason of my choosing for zero percent," said Tom Gibbons of Harleysville.
But their state lawmakers can get a zero-interest loan.
"That's a gift. That's a privilege and a perk that's beyond my job," said Senator John Yudichak (D) 14th District.
State Sen. Yudichak of Luzerne County says his jaw dropped when he received an email in July from the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union offering a no-interest loan.
The loan is for state lawmakers and staffers and it can be for up to $10,000. Two months after a budget passes, borrowers would then have to pay the outstanding balance at 2.9 percent interest.
A PSECU spokesman emailed us a statement saying, "We understand the impact the budget impasse has on our members and want to provide assistance during this stressful time."
"Stressful?" Financially, lawmakers and their staffers are being paid during this budget impasse. And even if the state treasury runs out of money to pay lawmakers in a prolonged budget stalemate, Sen. Yudichak says lawmakers still should not get the kind of loan that's unavailable to the people they represent.
"I would go to a credit union or a bank and pay market rate for a loan to get through the tough times, or I'd go out and get a second job to make sure that I could provide for my family," said Yudichak.
At King's College in Wilkes-Barre, those students of government call the zero-interest loan for lawmakers the kind of perk that turns voters off to politics.
"I still have a zero-percent chance of probably getting zero-percent interest," Gibbons said.
"We're still waiting for our state grants and loans. We don't know when we're going to get it and we still have to pay interest, while they have zero percent until they make that budget," said Gurzinsky.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union says there has been increased interest in the zero-interest loan, but he added that by law, the credit union cannot name the state lawmakers or their staffers who are taking advantage of it.