It’s crucial the new House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis start oversight work as soon as possible. By doing so, the Subcommittee can make recovery efforts more effective and guarantee that government agencies are good stewards of public money.
AFR and our partners sent a letter in support of including the Medical Debt Relief Act as part of future covid-19 relief.
Public advocates sent a letter to Congress in support of the Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act, a proposal from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to prevent big corporations and Wall Street investors from exploiting the pandemic to further consolidate their economic and political power.
Letter calling on Congress to include consumer protections in COVID-19 relief
AFR joined this letter to Congress urging Congress to take the steps needed as soon as possible to clarify that COVID-19 stimulus payments to help households during this public health emergency are exempt from garnishments. View or download pdf here.
AFR and SBPC Send Letter to Navient Demanding Investment in Student Borrowers, not Shareholders Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and The Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Navient Corporation urging the company’s board to halt dividends and
AFR Education Fund and Demand Progress Education Fund sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee regarding competition in the digital marketplace. Congress and regulators should promote the tradition of separating banking and commerce, by extending that set of principles to dominant platforms, especially online marketplaces and social networks.
AFR joined 39 other organizations urging Congress to staff the five-member panel tasked with monitoring the corporate bailout with members who have experience with oversight and/or investigations and have proven commitment to principles of transparency and accountability.
Congress needs to resist calls from private equity executives to gain access to pandemic-related bailout programs. Private equity-owned firms are not comparable to ordinary small businesses, who cannot draw on deep-pocketed Wall Street owners who could support them if they chose to do so. Private equity (PE) funds are pooled investment funds managed by Wall Street firms that purchase operating companies. Prominent examples of private equity-owned portfolio companies include Toys ‘R Us, Shopko, and TeamHealth.
The track record of private equity funds demonstrates that these firms will wherever possible seek to divert income streams, including government support, to wealthy private equity executives rather than supporting employment and customer service at portfolio firms.
Americans for Financial Reform and 62 other organizations sent a letter to members of Congress asking them to implement broad-based, efficient, and effective relief for millions of people and small businesses in the U.S.