WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate is expected to begin voting today on S.J.Res.18, legislation that would prevent a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule from lowering the typical price of an overdraft fee at very large banks and credit unions from around $35 to $5. If enacted, the legislation would eliminate this CFPB rule and forbid issuance of the rule in “substantially the same form.”
“This legislation, which should be called the ‘High Bank Fees Forever Act,’ would block the type of price cut that Americans have been clamoring for,” said Nadine Chabrier, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). “The measure would deny hundreds of dollars of relief each year from reaching families living paycheck-to-paycheck while letting huge financial institutions perpetually price gouge these families. Congress should reject this ‘High Bank Fees Forever Act.’”
This form of legislation, a Congressional Review Act resolution, requires only a simple majority to pass the Senate. An identical House version of this overdraft legislation, H.J. Res. 59, has already passed the House Financial Services Committee and could quickly be called for a House Floor vote.
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Press Contact: Matthew Kravitz matthew.kravitz@responsiblelending.org