Biden touched on fees for consumers, data privacy and student loans while sharing his administration’s accomplishments and outlook for a potential second term after the November elections.
03/08/2024 2:15 P.M.
1.5 minute read
President Joe Biden delivered his third State of the Union address Thursday, his last ahead of the November elections, and touched on “junk fees,” artificial intelligence, data privacy and student loans. Medical debt was not a focus in the health care components of the speech.
Ahead of the speech, the Biden administration issued a fact sheet on consumer fees, which the president highlighted as “junk fees” during the speech. He mentioned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s credit card late fee rule reducing fees from $32 to $8.
Biden focused on affordable student loans in his speech. According to the fact sheet, the administration is “cracking down on junk fees in higher education.”
In July, according to the fact sheet, undergraduate loan payments “will be cut in half, capping a borrower’s loan payment at 5% of their discretionary income.”
Regarding artificial intelligence and data privacy, Biden reiterated asks for bipartisan data privacy legislation, and said the use of AI voice impersonation should be banned, according to a summary of the speech from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.
While it wasn’t addressed in Biden’s remarks, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and medical debt is expected to be published later this year after the CFPB released its final report (PDF) on Small Business Review Panel discussions of the bureau’s proposals and alternatives for a credit reporting rule.
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