Consumer Bankruptcy Journal Spring 2015 | Page 14

NACBA GOES TO WASHINGTON, DC By Ike Shulman Chair, NACBA Legislative Committee Shulman Law Offices sanjosebankruptcy.com O n February 9th, NACBA’s Legislative Committee descended on our nation’s Capitol for three days of productive meetings with key members of Congress, the Administration, Treasury and Education Departments and their staffs. At the center of our discussions were our calls for broadly restoring the student loan discharge rights for bankruptcy debtors. We also took these opportunities to recount the difficulties our clients experience in trying to obtain “undue hardship” discharges of student loans under current law. Accompanied 14 by NACBA’s CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL accomplished team of Washington professionals, Jonathan Yarowsky of WilmerHale and Maureen Thompson of The Hastings Group, we met with several Senators and House members who have been in the forefront in protecting consumer debtors’ rights over many years. continuing efforts to get the Department of Education to disclose the collection policies/incentives for their servicers, as well as her attempts to get the FHFA to start offering effective mortgage relief for the millions of homeowners who we know are still struggling to save their homes. One of our meetings was with Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), who gave us a very warm welcome. Senator Warren, after recalling our many joint past efforts to pr