Consumer Bankruptcy Journal Spring 2015 | Página 6

LEGISLATIVE REPORT
By Maureen Thompson
NACBA Legislative Director

T

he 114th Congress officially
kicked off in January 2015, with
Republicans in control of both
the House and the Senate for the first
time in nearly a decade. The 2014
midterm elections brought a total of
74 freshman lawmakers to the House
and Senate, with Republicans holding
a 54-46 majority in the Senate and the
GOP enjoying its biggest majority in
the House since 1929. The change in
Senate control shifted the chairmanship
of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
which oversees the bankruptcy
system, to Senator Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), with Senator Patrick Leahy (DVT) as Ranking Member. The House
Judiciary Committee remains under
the leadership of Chairman Robert
Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member
John Conyers (D-MI). NACBA’s
Legislative Committee and D.C. based
staff remain in close contact with these
key members and their staff.
With the new Congress will come a
markedly different political dynamic in
Washington compared to the first six
years of the Obama Administration.
After years of a divided Congress
and subsequent legislative gridlock,
Congressional Republicans are eager
to use their new majorities in Congress
to prove their ability to span beyond
being the “party of no.” While any broad
legislative proposals will be subject
to President Obama’s veto authority,
newly installed Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has outlined
his strategy of using the appropriations
process to advance GOP priorities,
including further rollbacks of the DoddFrank financial reform law.
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CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL

Meanwhile, Senator Harry Reid (DNV), now Senate Minority Leader, will
continue to lead his caucus and hope to
draw policy and political contrasts from
his Republican counterparts. Though
Democrats are indeed in the minority
and have lost the power of setting the
Senate’s agenda, NACBA is particularly
pleased at Reid’s appointment of
longtime ally Senator Elizabeth Warren
to the newly created role of strategic
policy adviser to the Democratic Policy
and Communications Committee.
From this leadership position, Senator
Warren will offer a progressive voice
in helping to craft the party’s policy
positions and priorities. NACBA is
thrilled that Senator Warren will be
empowered to lend her particular
bankruptcy expertise to issues such
as financial regulation, economic
inequality, and student loan reform.
As far as NACBA’s legislative priorities
are concerned, we will of course
continue to push for a fair and effective
bankruptcy system in the 114th
Congress. As bankruptcy attorneys well
know, the credit industry succeeded
in making the bankruptcy process
more expensive and cumbersome
for financially vulnerable consumers.
We anticipate that creditors may be
emboldened to seek additional changes
now that will have a bigger voice in
the Republican-controlled Congress.
NACBA will monitor such efforts closely
and continue to fight for a consumer’s
right to a restructure their finances and
get back on their feet.
NACBA will also continue its advocacy
for student loan borrowers’ rights to
access the bankruptcy system. With
the country’s collective $1.2 trillion in
Spring 2015

student loan debt a leading financial
obstacle for the tens of millions of
American consumers who owe it,
NACBA and its allies continue to
highlight how this debt poses serious
consequences on the health of the
broader economy. Many student loan
borrowers go on to repay their debts
and make a strong return on their
investment in a college education, but
for the growing number of American
students who run into trouble repaying
their loans, perhaps due to illness, job
loss, injury, divorce, or other hardship,
there are few options for relief. As
NACBA members know all too well,
those student loan borrowers in severe
enough overall financial distress to be
considering bankruptcy do not even
have its promise of a fair, fresh start
when it comes to their student loan
debt. With growing acknowledgement
of the student loan debt crisis bolstering
our efforts, NACBA will continue to
advocate for student loan borrowers’
rights to access the bankruptcy system.
Above all else, the shakeup in Congress
means that NACBA and its membership
must work adamantly to introduce
the organization and its priorities to
new members of Congress. We do
this through engaging lawmakers and
their staff in Washington D.C., and at
home. A key component of this work
will be NACBA’s 2015 Hill Day at
Home, launching March 30th, 2015.
We encourage NACBA all members
to sign up and participate in this year’s
event, which enables participants to
hold meetings with their Senators
and Representatives in Congress to
discuss bankruptcy, student loans, and
other pressing matters.

National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys