skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Bank Deregulation Has Consequences for Military Families

play audio
Play

Monday, June 12, 2017   

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Financial CHOICE Act is in the U.S. Senate, and its backers aim to ease restrictions on banks put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act after the 2007 economic crash. But new research warns the deregulation would hurt U.S. service members.

A report, called Protecting Those Who Serve, said the bill weakens the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That would include limiting the ability of the Office of Servicemember Affairs to defend military families against common problems with predatory lenders.

Report coauthor Ed Mierzwinski is the consumer program director with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

"The Financial CHOICE Act makes it almost impossible for the CFPB to protect anyone,” Mierzwinski said; "and that includes service members."

Supporters say the bill, HR 10, removes blocks on economic growth. But Mierzwinski argued that, by making the CFPB optional, the act risks turning common issues like debt collection and high-interest payday loans into bigger problems for military families.

The U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group analyzed 44,000 consumer grievances from active duty service members, veterans and their families. Mierzwinski said the most common complaint was problems with debt collectors. He said for military members, this can have career consequences.

"Admirals and Generals have routinely and often said that a leading cause of losing a security clearance is a bad debt, or a wrong debt,” Mierzwinski said.

Loss of security clearance limits a service member to lower level positions, hindering their ability to earn more money.

The Financial CHOICE Act passed the House along party lines, but it is likely to change in the Senate, where lawmakers on the Banking Committee have shown interest in a smaller but similar bill.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021