"Congress and federal agencies are expected to spend as much as $60 million in fiscal 2009 on a little-known taxpayer-funded perk: repaying government employees' college loans," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Paying off staffers' old student loans is rare in the private sector. And while total spending on the benefit in the federal government remains relatively small, it has multiplied since the program began seven years ago, according to federal records and government officials. ... The House and Senate will spend $18 million this year repaying staffers' student loans. Last year, while criticizing corporations that pay lavish benefits during hard times, House lawmakers nearly doubled what the government can pay for their staffers' college bills. The yearly maximum repayment is $10,000 in fiscal 2009, which ends Sept. 30, up from $6,000 in fiscal 2008, with a lifetime maximum of $60,000, the same as in the executive branch."