Advocacy Update June 2023
Here’s the latest news of what’s happening in Washington and specific NCBA advocacy initiatives that we and our lobbyists have been engaged in over the past several weeks. Advocacy Support Fund and NCBA PAC donors to receive a more detailed version of the update below, plus opportunities to speak directly with our team of lobbyists and other donor-only benefits. Make a contribution today to support our advocacy efforts in Washington! Reach out to nathan@creditorsbar.org with any questions.
Washington D.C. Update
Congress is gearing up for a busy month of June, with the Senate in session for fifteen days and the House for twelve. Last month, we saw Congress and regulators focused on the recent slew of bank failures, but D.C.’s focus rapidly shifted to the looming debt ceiling. Speaker McCarthy and President Biden struck a deal on the debt ceiling, which garnered enough support to pass both chambers of Congress. President Biden signed the legislation on June 2nd.
Besides the ongoing debt ceiling, Congress will resume regular policy agendas and a regular hearing cadence this month, featuring appearances from regulators like Treasury Secretary Yellen, CFPB Director Chopra, and Federal Reserve Chair Powell.
Financial Services/Banking Committees Hold Hearings that Touch on Credit Reporting
The House Financial Services Committee held two hearings that touched upon issues involving credit reporting. The first was, “The Current Mortgage Market: Undermining Housing Affordability with Politics” and the second was a Full Committee oversight hearing featuring FHFA Director Thompson.
Members on both sides of the aisle argued that this new credit reporting system could lead to brokers cherry-picking the best credit reports and ignoring key data points. Democrats also argued that there should be more competition in the credit reporting space generally.
Additionally, the Senate Banking Committee held a high-level hearing on credit reporting late last month that featured the CEOs of the three Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs).
Democrats were generally more critical of the credit reporting agencies and called for removing medical debt from credit reports altogether, while Republicans advocated for the CRAs to use alternative data to address inequities within the credit scoring system.
FY24 NDAA
We expect the House of Representatives to mark up the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act later this month after the debt ceiling issue resolves. We expect several amendments that could impact NCBA members to be proposed - as is usually the case. We will continue to monitor this annual process and provide updates in coming months.
Advocacy Update
NCBA attended a political event for Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) who is up for re-election in 2024. Additionally, meetings with Representatives Bryan Steil, Alex Mooney, Andy Barr and others are scheduled to be held in the coming month.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
NCBA met with the CFPB’s Gandhi Eswaramoorthy following his attendance at our Denver conference. Our recent discussions included the CFPB’s Abusive Conduct in Consumer Financial Markets guidance as well other issues. NCBA will have additional meetings with the Bureau in the coming weeks.
On The Horizon: CFPB Director Rohit Chopra is scheduled to testify before Senate Banking (6-13-23 at 10:00 am) and House Financial Services to present the CFPB’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress.
Amicus
Discussions continue regarding NCBA filing an Amicus brief in the AZ Court of Appeals case now pending.
NCBA agreed to file an Amicus when this matter (Arizona ballot initiative) reached the Arizona Supreme Court, however the Arizona Creditors Bar Association (ACBA) members feel that filing the Amicus now in the Court of Appeals may be more helpful.