U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and 22 Republican cosponsors are supporting a bill to bring the bureau’s funding into the congressional appropriations process. A bipartisan bill to protect federal student loan borrowers’ professional licenses is also expected to resurface in the 117th Congress.
2/8/2021 14:30
Governance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s leadership structure changed last year after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Seila Law vs. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and now members of Congress are again seeking to bring the bureau’s funding into the congressional appropriations process.
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and 22 Republican cosponsors reintroduced H.R. 790, which would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to move the bureau’s funding from the Federal Reserve to the regular appropriations process this month.
Barr has previously introduced similar legislation on changing the CFPB funding process and ACA International reiterated support for the legislation in a letter from CEO Mark Neeb.
“The appropriations process would allow consumers to have input on the direction of the CFPB through their elected officials. Input from consumers and their legislators is important to add a layer of transparency and accountability to the bureau’s actions,” Neeb said in the letter.
Barr is the ranking member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in the 117th Congress.
The committee will hold a legislative markup hearing Wednesday to discuss the the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes the items Democrats are pushing for the next Stimulus package.
Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers Act
In other news, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are expected to reintroduce legislation that would prevent suspension of borrowers’ professional licenses as a penalty for federal student loan default.
The goal of the legislation, The Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers Act, is to “prevent states from suspending, revoking or denying state professional licenses solely because borrowers are behind on their federal student loan payments.”
Currently, according to a memo from Rubio’s office, some state laws allow states to suspend, deny or revoke a borrower’s professional license as a penalty for default.
States would have two years to comply if the bill is enacted. Borrowers would be able to file for relief if a state violates the terms of the bill, according to the memo.
Federal student loan collection methods would not change under the bill; it only seeks to prevent “states’ denial, suspension, and revocation of licenses solely because of federal student loans,” the memo states.