Correspondence between lawmakers and regulators in Washington reveals common oversight issues during COVID-19 pandemic.
5/12/2020 10:00
As part of the ongoing advocacy in response to COVID-19, ACA International and its partners are tracking congressional letters on Capitol Hill that call for additional oversight during the pandemic.
There are 100 (and counting) letters between legislators and from members of Congress to federal organizations such as the U.S. Small Business Administration and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on subjects related to rulemaking, consumer protections and funding for businesses
Here are a few letters on ACA’s radar as we prepare for our annual advocacy event, the Washington Insights Livestream, which will be held online June 3, 2020.
- Delay Community Reinvestment Act Rulemaking, from House Financial Services Committee Democrats, led by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (April 7, 2020): “At a time when regulators should be working together to appropriately respond to this growing pandemic and keep our banking system safe and sound, unrelated rulemaking should be put on hold for the time being. To that end, we urge you to delay any unrelated rulemakings, including the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with respect to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), during the ongoing crisis. After the crisis passes, we urge your agencies to work with the Federal Reserve to develop a new, joint NPRM that is consistent with the purpose of the Community Reinvestment Act.”
- Small-Business Funding, from U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. (April 17, 2020): “The Payroll Protection Program has proven to be a vital tool in the federal strategy to support the economy and support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for PPP loans is as urgent now as it was two weeks ago when the program started, except that the queue now disproportionately consists of small, family-owned, and independent businesses and independent contractors. With all due respect, I urge you to reconsider and move quickly to protect small businesses and their employees by funding the Payroll Protection Program.”
- Paycheck Protection Program, from U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Small Business Administration (April 28, 2020): “We write to urge you to issue guidance to ensure that the processing and disbursement of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans prioritize Main Street small businesses and nonprofits—not large, well-funded companies. For small businesses and nonprofits, access to a PPP loan is a matter of survival, but many of them will be left with nothing because the SBA’s current process is not working. Thus, we urge the SBA and Department of Treasury to immediately issue guidance that, for the remainder of the PPP funds and for any future PPP funding, the SBA will process loan applications for less than $1 million first, and then process applications for loans for more than $1 million.”
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Payday Lending Rule, from members of the House Financial Services Committee to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger (May 4, 2020): The members request that Kraninger halt progress on the small-dollar lending rule because of reported “political interference.”
These are just a few of the many actions in Washington, D.C., ACA is following.
Learn more about activity on Capitol Hill and how to get involved in accounts receivable management industry advocacy during Washington Insights Livestream June 3.
In one session, Mark Neeb, ACA CEO; Leah Dempsey, ACA vice president and senior counsel, federal advocacy; Andrew Madden, ACA vice president state and government affairs; ACA President Roger Weiss, IFCCE, and Travis Johnson, principal, 1607 Strategies will present on: COVID-19 Administration, Legislative and Regulatory Efforts Impacting the Debt Collection Industry.
View the complete agenda online and register now to help ACA advocate for the industry.
Members may also find more updates on advocacy efforts on ACA’s federal advocacy webpage.
For more information on how the ACA Licensing staff can assist with your licensing needs, please contact us at [email protected] or call (952) 926-6547.