WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) issued the following statement in response to the House Financial Services Committee’s passage of his legislation, the Making the CFPB Accountable to Small Businesses Act, which requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to presume that size and sophistication-based tailoring of regulations are needed in SBREFA panel reviews. The CFPB is a federal agency, architected by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, that is unaccountable to Congress and its regulations have proven time and again to be burdensome to businesses of all sizes.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become a partisan, unaccountable agency driven by the worst of bureaucracy, said Congressman Scott Fitzgerald. I am encouraged the Financial Services Committee, under Chairman McHenry’s leadership, has taken steps to achieve meaningful reform. Further, I am proud my legislation to end abuse of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and ensure new proposals are properly vetted was included in the larger package.”
BACKGROUND
On Wednesday, Congressman Fitzgerald’s bill, the Making the CFPB Accountable to Small Businesses Act, was passed by the House Financial Services Committee as part of the CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act.
SUMMARY
The CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), is comprehensive legislation aimed at reining in the abuse of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by doing the following:
– Changes the leadership structure of the Bureau from a single Director to a bipartisan, five-member commission.
– Brings the Bureau under the regular appropriations process and creates a dedicated Inspector General for the Bureau to ensure transparency, accountability and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
– Creates a new Office of Economic Analysis and require cost-benefit analysis for all guidance, orders, rules, or regulations of the Bureau.
– Requires all proposed rules to consider the impact on small businesses.
– Provides awards to whistleblowers who report original information relating to a violation of consumer financial law resulting in certain monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million.