ACA International has put its support behind a bill that would place the budget of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the jurisdiction of Congress instead of the Federal Reserve Board.
Rep. Andy Barr [R-Ky.], last month introduced House Bill 969, the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending Act of 2019. The bill, which has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee, would require the CFPB, like other government agencies, to have its budget approved every year by Congress. Currently, the CFPB makes budget requests on a quarterly basis to the Federal Reserve Board, and is not subject to the Congressional appropriations process.
Making that change would add “checks and balances to an agency with little accountability” wrote Mark Neeb, the chief executive of ACA International, in a letter to Rep. Barr.
In making its case why the CFPB needs to be held more accountable, Neeb referenced the agency’s lawsuit against Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, which it lost when a jury ruled the CFPB had not proven its case that attorneys for the firm were not meaningfully involved in letters and calls made to individuals with unpaid debts.
“This type of egregious behavior has unfortunately been commonplace at times since the Bureau’s inception,” Neeb wrote. “As a result, more accountability is needed, and your legislation, the TABS Act, would add much needed transparency and checks and balances to actions of the CFPB. Accordingly, we strongly support passage of the TABS Act.”
