Resolution heads to president’s desk after sustained community bank grassroots advocacy

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 1, 2023)—The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) today commended the House for passing a bipartisan, ICBA-advocated resolution (S.J.Res.32) to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Section 1071 small-business data collection and reporting requirements and urged President Joe Biden to sign it into law. Today’s bipartisan vote follows the recent bipartisan Senate passage of the measure, which came after sustained ICBA and community banker grassroots advocacy.

“ICBA and the nation’s community banks applaud the House for today’s vote finalizing congressional approval of the resolution and urge President Biden to sign this bipartisan resolution into law,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said. “We thank House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams (R-Texas), who led the effort in the House, in addition to the members who voted to pass S.J.Res.32. This important resolution admonishes intrusive and overly burdensome data collection and reporting requirements for small-business loans that would ultimately harm the women- and minority-owned small businesses the rule is designed to help. The CFPB’s data collection requirements would significantly degrade the ability of community banks to meet the needs of small businesses while requiring financial institutions to burden their customers with invasive and personal questions the CFPB would then publicly report.”

The CFPB’s rule requires lenders to collect and report data on credit applicants, including the race, sex, and ethnicity of the principal owners as well as gross annual revenue. While the CFPB has the authority to exempt any class of financial institutions from the standards it develops and to limit mandatory data points to those required by the law, it has opted to apply the rule to the vast majority of community banks and to require data points far exceeding those required by law.

Introduced by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) alongside a separate House version introduced by Chairman Williams, S.J.Res.32 would provide for congressional disapproval of the CFPB’s 1071 small-business data collection and reporting rule and dictate that it has no force or effect. The resolution would reverse the harm of the rule and preserve the flow of credit to American small businesses.

With the resolution now headed to the White House, ICBA urges President Biden to sign this bipartisan measure into law to ensure community banks can continue meeting the needs of the nation’s small businesses.

About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

As local and trusted sources of credit, America’s community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers’ financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at icba.org.

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