Business is looking up as Washington reinvents some of its regulatory agencies. One of our team members traveled to Washington last month for the ACA Washington Insights Convention.
Most notable: the speech issued by Michael O’Reilly from the Federal Communications Commission. Commissioner O’Reilly indicated that, under his leadership, the FCC is moving to a more sensible approach to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). At one point in the speech, O’Reilly stated that he believes the FCC had gone “far beyond what I believe Congress intended, as evidenced by the actual wording of the statute.”
The rules provided by the FCC are far more restrictive than the actual statute itself. This is a leading factor in why ACA International recently sued the FCC. The Supreme Court heard arguments, and the court opinion should be published in the coming months.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was another pinnacle of discussion at this convention. Legislators have introduced bills to either repeal or reform the CFPB. ACA International representatives are hoping for reform; it’s highly unlikely a complete repeal will gain any traction. Under the proposed reform, some of the larger changes include civil penalties received would be deposited in the coffers of the government and the one director system would be replaced with a five-member panel.
In short, optimism is prevalent in Washington D.C., and we’re hoping to see some changes soon that help business.
