ACA International will continue advocacy efforts on this legislation to educate the committee about why overbroad efforts in these bills would ultimately harm not only ACA members and their employees, but also businesses and consumers. The legislation is expected to be considered on the House floor in early May.
4/21/2021 16:30
The House Financial Services Committee passed a comprehensive package of debt collection bills along party lines by a 30-23 vote Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, did not vote.
H.R. 2547, the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act, would “expand and enhance consumer, student, service member, and small business protections with respect to debt collection practices, and for other purposes.”
A proposed amendment introduced by Ranking Member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to make the bills bipartisan and include additional protections for consumers and businesses did not advance after a 30-23 vote. McHenry introduced the amendment during the April 21 markup of the bill.
In advance of the markup, ACA International submitted a letter to the committee outlining why H.R. 2547 has many flawed and unresearched policy proposals that would harm the economy, creditors, and the ability of consumers to access credit and services in the future.
McHenry, R-N.C., noted in his opening remarks April 21 that the agenda for the markup lacked bipartisanship.
View his opening remarks here.
“Not one bill on the committee docket today is bipartisan [and] not one bill has a Republican cosponsor,” McHenry said, adding H.R. 2547 would harm the credit reporting system and prevent the use of modern communication methods to collect debt.
“If enacted, this bill will ultimately harm the very consumers the Democrats say they’re trying to help,” McHenry said. “It will make access to credit harder and more expensive for all Americans. Additionally, it will harm small businesses [that] are simply trying to be paid for their services that they provide.”
McHenry’s amendment to H.R. 2547 sought bipartisan support for several targeted approaches to improve the debt collection and credit reporting framework, including a clear disclosure when a confession of judgment is part of a business contract. It would also require lenders to obtain a written affidavit with the date and nature of a borrower’s default to execute a confession of judgment.
ACA will work with its industry trade group coalition partners on advocacy before the legislation is considered by the full U.S. House of Representatives in May and expects the bill will have an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate.
Driving for Opportunity Act
The House Judiciary Committee also held a markup of the Driving for Opportunity Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mary Scanlon, D-Pa., April 21.
The bill would provide grants to states that do not suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a driver’s license of a person or refuse to renew a registration of a motor vehicle for failure to pay a civil or criminal fine or fee, and for other purposes.
The House Judiciary Committee added two small technical amendments from U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and voted 23 to 17 on the act.
U.S. Reps. Karen Bass, D-Calif., Ted Deutch, D-Fla., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., did not vote on the Driving for Opportunity Act.
ACA is continuing advocacy efforts in the 117th Congress, including during the 2021 Washington Insights Virtual Fly-In April 22. Members can register for Washington Insights here and access more advocacy resources in ACA’s new advocacy booklet for 2021.