Lummis Opposes Unfair Regulations Targeting Wyoming Community Banks and Small Businesses

September 1, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and six colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging it to pause the effective date of the Dodd-Frank Section 1071 small business data collection rule. This rule would require Wyoming community banks to collect sensitive personal data on small business owners in Wyoming when they seek a loan. 

“Wyoming community banks should not be forced to jump through a series of unnecessary regulatory hoops that expose Wyoming citizens’ personal information,” said Senator Lummis. “Especially with the legality of the funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in question before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall. Both as a matter of good public policy and as a matter of sound legal practice, the right thing to do is for the CFPB to pause the implementation of this new rule.”

The senators raised serious concerns in the letter about the fairness of the rule itself to Wyoming community banks and small businesses, as well as the pending litigation about the CFPB before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Click here to read the full letter. 

Background:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in October of 2022 that the funding mechanism for the CFPB violates the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 

The U.S. Supreme Court will be reviewing the case in October of 2023.

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