Hayes carrying 6figure student debt

Congresswoman, husband have $255,000 household income

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes pegged her political career to a backstory of rising out of public housing in Waterbury to earn a place in the middle class as a school teacher.

And although many in politics seem somehow to move beyond modest financial roots, Hayes appears still to be anchored in the upper middle class.

Her newly filed financial disclosure shows a mixture of liabilities — including $115,000 to $300,000 in student debt — and assets, including a rental property on Englewood Avenue in Waterbury. Members of the U.S. House and Senate are required to file such disclosures annually.

Hayes requested a 90day extension just before the filing deadline in June. Hayes “wanted to do it at home where she could consult with an attorney and have more time to look it over,” said her spokesman, Sam Dorn.

Her statement originally was to be filed by midAugust, but her lawyer noticed an unspecified error and it was taken down for a correction, said Dorn.

As a House member, Hayes earns $174,000 a year. And the latest police contract puts the salary for her husband, Waterbury detective Milford Hayes, at $81,558 for a joint income in the range of $255,500.

None of that income is listed in the form. Lawmakers are required to enter assets and liabilities in dollar ranges, not specific amounts.

Hayes won a name for herself as winner of the National Teacher of the Year for 2016. She met with then President Barack Obama before embarking on a nationwide speaking tour to promote the teaching profession.

After winning the seat of departing Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Hayes became a member of the House Education & Labor Committee. Reducing the oftencrushing load of student

debt is a major issue, especially for Democrats.

Hayes has turned her debt into a talking point. “I think I have more debt than everybody on the Hill,” she told a group of high school students in New Haven earlier this year.

Hayes also carries a mortgage of between $50,000 and $100,000 on the home in Waterbury, which according to Dorn is rented out to a

relative. Income from the rental amounts to between $5,000 and $15,000, according to the statement.

Hayes stays in a small rented apartment in Washington while Congress is in session. She and her husband and children live in a home in nearby Wolcott, not listed on the form.

She earned $112,212 in her final year in Waterbury public schools as an administrator overseeing talent and professional development. The amount was nearly $20,000 more than the toplevel Waterbury teacher salary of $93,365. Her last Water

bury public schools check, which was listed as income on the disclosure form, was $4,838.

The wealthiest member of the Connecticut House delegation is Rep. Jim Himes.

Himes spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs before joining a housingrelated nonprofit for six years before winning his House seat in 2008.

His disclosure showed assets ranging between $10.2 million at the upper end and $2.7 million on the lower end. His liabilities were between $110,000 and $265,000.

Hayes