Earlier this month, the House took an enormous stride toward reforming the student loan industry by voting to repeal a subsidized loan program that put billions in the pockets of bankers, at the expense of students. And it looks like they are ready to build on that momentum. On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee called a hearing to scrutinize a bankruptcy law that allows lenders to hike interest rates on delinquent loans while prohibiting students from dumping the debt even under extraordinary financial stress. Illinois' own Rep. Danny Davis has been one of the most outspoken critics of that policy, which was sneaked into 2005 bankruptcy legislation without any public debate. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, he testified that it's time for Congress to stop protecting banks and start looking out for those students who are most susceptible to being crushed by education debt. Here's an excerpt from his testimony (PDF):

Private education debt is no different that other consumer debt. It involves private profit, and deserves no privileged treatment. Members of the Community Reinvestment Taskforce are concerned that the current bankruptcy law penalizes borrowers for pursuing higher education, provides no incentives for private lenders to lend responsibly, and possibly effects African American borrowers more negatively than borrowers from other ethnic and racial groups.

As the cost of college continues to skyrocket, a growing number of students are turning to private lenders to fill gaps in their tuition. As of last year, a third of all undergraduate students held some private loan debt. And that's bound to continue growing as states, like Illinois, cut back on aid such as the Monetary Awards Program (MAP). Encouragingly, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) who chairs a House Judiciary sub-committee, is already pledging to draft legislation that would offer some parity between student loans and other debt in the eyes of a bankruptcy court.  It could also give Republican members of Illinois' congressional delegation a second chance to push back against what Davis describes as the "privileged treatment" of banks.  They didn't do so well the first time around.