Americans for Financial Reform

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Letters to Regulators: Memo to ED Supporting Continuity of Education From Carceral Setting to Reentry In Regulations on Pell Grants for Prison Education Programs

AFREF joined a memo to ED establishing their obligation to support education in reentry as Pell has been reinstated for incarcerated individuals and more individuals who will now begin a postsecondary education inside will not finish their degree within the correctional setting and will instead have to finish during reentry. The paper also demonstrates the types of support Prison Education Programs (PEP) could provide to help with the ‘education continuum’ from college inside to education outside.

News Release: CFPB Overdraft Study is a Start but New Regulations Needed

We appreciate the work of the CFPB on drawing attention to the harms of overdraft fees, which take billions of dollars a year out of the pockets of mostly low- and moderate-income households to pad the bottom lines of the country’s big and small banks. And among those households, Black and Latinx households were also far more likely to incur overdrafts. We urge the CFPB to use all the tools that Congress gave it to protect consumers from abuses, including drafting tough new regulations.

Statement: Powell Renomination is a Major Disappointment for Wall Street Reformers

President Biden’s renomination of Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve Board is a major disappointment to those of us who have fought for tougher regulation of Wall Street as a key tool for protecting financial stability and building a more just and sustainable economy.

Statement: The House-Passed Build Back Better Act is the First Step Next, it Must be Paid for by the Rich and Corporations

Today, the House passed the Build Back Better Act, sending historic investments in white, Black and Brown working people to the Senate.

Letters to Congress: Civil Rights Groups Letter of Support of Saule Omarova’s OCC Nomination

AFR, joined by 14 other civil rights, social and racial justice, and immigrant organizations, sent a letter to Congress in support of President Biden’s nomination of Professor Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

In The News: Who’s Afraid of Saule Omarova? How a Joe Biden nominee became the target of a ludicrous red-baiting campaign.

“The administration settled on a smart person with a background in the banking industry and in government as well as path-breaking scholarship on financial regulation,” said Carter Dougherty, a spokesperson for Americans for Financial Reform. “In less polarized times, somebody appointed by a Democratic president who worked for a previous Republican administration and for a Wall Street firm would be the kind of candidate everyone can agree on. But we’re at a moment where a candidate acceptable to Wall Street is a candidate that does the bidding of Wall Street. And that’s not acceptable to the public interest.”

Letters to the Administration: Letter Urging OMB and OIRA to Implement the January 20th Memo on Modernizing Regulatory Review

AFREF joined a letter urging the Biden Administration to immediately begin the process of implementing reforms outlined in the January 20th memo on “Modernizing Regulatory Review.”

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Letters to Congress: Letter in Support of the Build Back Better Provision that Limits the Pell Grant Increase to Students Attending Public and Non-Profit Colleges

AFR joined a letter to Congress in support of the provision in Build Back Better that limits the Pell grant increase to students attending public and non-profit colleges, excluding for-profit schools.

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News Release: Bipartisan Legislation Would Expand Military Lending Act Protections on Payday Loans to Veterans and Civilians Alike

Americans for Financial Reform supports the introduction of the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act of 2021. This legislation would extend the 36 percent APR cap on payday and car-title loans in the Military Lending Act (MLA) to cover all borrowers.

Letters to Congress: Letter Supporting Blumenthal Amendment on Forced Arbitration

AFR joined a letter to Congress supporting Senator Blumenthal’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to ban forced arbitration for service members suffering financial and employment abuse.