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Washington
–
This
afternoon,
the
U.S.
Senate
Committee
on
Banking,
Housing
and
Urban
Affairs
passed
major
bipartisan
financial
legislation,
the
Economic
Growth,
Regulatory
Relief
and
Consumer
Protection
Act,
including
two
amendments
introduced
by
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC).
Scott’s
amendments
are
the
bipartisan
Family
Self-Sufficiency
Act,
which
will
help
families
living
in
public
housing
build
their
savings
and
increase
their
earnings,
as
well
as
the
bipartisan
MOBILE
Act,
which
makes
it
easier
for
poor
and
minority
Americans
to
open
a
bank
account
instead
of
relying
on
payday
lenders
and
pawnbrokers.
“I
was
proud
to
work
with
Chairman
Crapo
and
my
colleagues
on
the
Banking
Committee
to
pass
this
important
bipartisan
legislation,
including
my
two
amendments,”
Scott
said.
“Both
the
Family
Self-Sufficiency
Act
and
the
MOBILE
Act
will
help
hardworking
Americans
gain
a
foothold
in
our
financial
system,
be
it
through
simply
being
able
to
open
a
bank
account
or
more
efficiently
growing
their
savings
account.”
Scott
continued,
“The
Economic
Growth,
Regulatory
Relief
and
Consumer
Protection
Act
as
a
whole
is
a
huge
step
forward
for
economic
growth
and
job
creation.
Too
many
local
communities
are
being
held
back
by
burdensome
regulations
on
small
financial
institutions,
and
by
providing
regulatory
relief
we
can
help
create
jobs
and
stimulate
growth.
Community
banks
are
often
an
invaluable
tool
for
small
businesses
and
local
entrepreneurs,
and
it
is
critical
we
provide
an
environment
where
they
can
succeed.
I’m
also
pleased
we
developed
important
provisions
protecting
veterans,
consumers
and
homeowners.
I
look
forward
to
the
entire
Senate
voting
on
this
commonsense,
bipartisan
legislation!”
The
committee
passed
the
Economic
Growth,
Regulatory
Relief
and
Consumer
Protection
Act
by
a
vote
of
16-7
this
afternoon.
Scott
is
an
original
cosponsor
of
this
bipartisan
legislation,
which,
as
the
Banking
Committee
notes,
right-sizes
regulation
for
smaller
financial
institutions,
encourages
growth
in
local
communities,
and
includes
important
consumer
protections
for
veterans,
senior
citizens
and
victims
of
fraud.
A
section
by
section
summary
of
the
bill
can
be
found
here.
Scott’s
first
amendment,
the
Family
Self-Sufficiency
Act,
originally
introduced
this
past
June
by
a
bipartisan
group
of
Senators
including
Scott,
would
streamline
and
improve
the
U.S.
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development's
Family
Self-Sufficiency
(FSS)
program.
Specifically,
it
would:
- Improve
the
FSS
program
by
permanently
streamlining
the
Housing
Choice
Voucher-FSS
and
Public
Housing-FSS
into
one
program,
which
would
relieve
public
housing
agencies
of
the
unnecessary
burden
of
running
two
separate
programs
that
share
the
same
goal
- Broaden
the
scope
of
the
supportive
services
that
may
be
offered
to
include
attainment
of
a
GED,
education
in
pursuit
of
a
post-secondary
degree
or
certification,
homeownership
assistance,
and
training
in
asset
management
- Expand
the
reach
of
the
FSS
program
to
more
families
that
may
be
excluded
due
to
a
technicality
related
to
the
kind
of
housing
assistance
a
family
receives.
The
bill
would
authorize
HUD
to
open
up
the
FSS
program
to
families
that
live
in
privately-owned
properties
subsidized
with
project-based
rental
assistance.
Scott’s
second
amendment,
the
Making
Online
Banking
Initiation
Legal
and
Easy
(MOBILE)
Act,
addresses
the
fact
that
current
laws
in
regard
to
identity
verification
have
not
kept
up
with
the
changing
technologies
of
the
Internet
era.
This
amendment
would
allow
banks
and
credit
unions
to
use
a
scan
or
picture
of
a
driver’s
license
to
verify
a
customer’s
identification
when
they
open
an
account
online.
It
also
specifically
stipulates
the
image
must
be
destroyed
after
the
account
is
created
in
order
to
protect
privacy.
Approximately
16
million
adults
live
in
households
without
a
checking
or
savings
account
and
an
additional
51
million
adults
live
in
households
that
have
a
bank
account
but
rely
on
nonbank
lenders
like
payday
lenders
and
pawnbrokers
with
sky-high
interest
rates.
However,
about
90
percent
of
underbanked
adults
own
a
mobile
phone,
of
which
75
percent
are
smartphones.
The
MOBILE
Act
can
connect
these
Americans
to
legitimate
financial
institutions
and
deter
them
from
payday
lenders
and
pawnbrokers.
It
is
supported
by
the
South
Carolina
Bankers
Association,
the
Carolinas
Credit
Union
League,
the
American
Bankers
Association
Consumer
Bankers
Association,
Credit
Union
National
Association,
and
the
Financial
Services
Roundtable.
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