ACA’s advocacy team is working with legislators and regulators on Capitol Hill. Editor’s note: This content is available for members only.
3/24/2020 9:00
Several Stand-Alone Bills Introduced Impacting the Industry
Several stand-alone bills were introduced in the past several days targeting debt collection activities in the wake of COVID-19, including one from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. ACA International continues to engage with Congress about all legislation impacting the industry. As Congress works on legislative packages in response to COVID-19, they are pulling from new and previously introduced stand-alone bills to incorporate into larger packages.
However, stand-alone legislation not included in a larger packages would have to go through the regular process of being marked-up and then voted on at the Committee level before moving to the House or Senate floor.
As a result of the outbreak, no Senate Banking or other Committee hearings or mark-ups are scheduled in the near future on these stand-alone bills. We will continue to advocate to keep harmful legislation out of any packages, COVID-19 or otherwise.
We will also continue to urge Republicans not to advance legislation at the Committee level in the Senate.
H.R. 6363 – To Amend the Higher Ed Act of 1965 to Halt Collection of Certain Student Loans, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) Introduced March 23, 2020.
H.R. 6379 – Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act, U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY)– Introduced March 23, 2020.
H.R. 6370 – To Amend the FCRA to Provide Disaster Protection for Workers’ Credit, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) – Introduced March 23, 2020.
H.R. 6321 – To Provide Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) – Introduced March 23, 2020.
H.R. 6316 – The Emergency Assistance for Student Borrowers Act of 2020, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) – Introduced March 23, 2020
S. 3565 – To Amend the FDCPA to Provide Additional Protections for Consumers and Small Business Owners from Debt Collection ,U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – Introduced March 22, 2020.
S. 3508 – To Amend the FCRA to Provide for Disaster Protection for Workers’ Credit, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) – Introduced March 17, 2020.
CFPB Updates its COVID-19 Resources
The CFPB released the following statement today:
"During this difficult time, the Bureau is doing everything it can to facilitate the work of responsible financial companies supporting their customers and borrowers. We want consumers facing hardships to be aware of this posture and encourage them to discuss their specific circumstances with their lenders. As a backstop, the CFPB stands ready to help consumers resolve issues with their financial services providers through our consumer complaint system," said Director Kathleen L. Kraninger.
"We also want consumers to know the various steps they can take to help themselves or a loved one, both in the short and long term. Our resources address situations ranging from consumers having difficulty paying their bills or meeting other financial obligations to consumers experiencing a loss of income to avoiding scams," concluded Kraninger.
It also updated its debt collection resources.
Engage with DOL on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
The U.S. Department of Labor will be hosting a national online dialogue to provide employers and employees with an innovative opportunity to offer their perspective as the department develops compliance assistance materials and outreach strategies related to the implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The ideas and comments gathered from this dialogue will inform compliance assistance guidance, resources, and tools, as well as outreach approaches, that assist employers and employees in understanding their responsibilities and rights under the FFCRA. Your input is needed by March 29, 2020. Anyone interested can participate online at https://ffcra.ideascale.com through March 29, 2020 or can join a Twitter chat hosted by @ePolicyWorks on March 25, 2020 at 2 p.m. using the hashtag #EPWChat.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced its first round of published guidance to provide information to employees and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when it takes effect on April 1, 2020, according to a news release.
FCC TCPA Exemption in Response to COVID-19
The Federal Communications Commission released a short order clarifying that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an "emergency" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Accordingly, hospitals, health care providers, state and local health officials, and other government officials may place calls and texts about the novel coronavirus as well as mitigation measures, pursuant to the TCPA’s exception for calls made for "emergency purposes." The ruling has two key limitations:
1. The caller must be from a hospital, or be a health care provider, state or local health official, or other government official as well as a person under the express direction of such an organization and acting on its behalf.
2. The content of the call must be solely informational, made necessary because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and directly related to the imminent health or safety risk arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak.
ACA is engaging with the FCC to determine whether this should be expanded to include calls from the industry.