AFSA Weighs In on Senate Hearing
Today, the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing on financial protections for servicemembers and their families. In advance of the hearing, AFSA sent a letter to Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) thanking them for holding the hearing and stressed the importance of keeping access to credit for military members and their families available.
AFSA’s letter cited the nonpartisan Urban Institute’s study, which found earlier this year that expansion of the Military Lending Act “did not lead to better credit and debt outcomes for service members most likely to be affected by this policy.” The study also found that for “the most vulnerable service members—those with deep subprime credit scores, the policy may have had negative effects by limiting their access to credit.” The Urban Institute concluded that expansion of the MLA would not be effective in improving Americans’ credit health. AFSA encourages Congress to heed this study and not expand the MLA.
AFSA also highlighted its Education Foundation, which promotes the delivery of quality personal finance education. For more than 30 years the foundation has provided free personal finance curricula, resources, and training to educators of all types so that consumers can learn responsible money management and gain a better understanding of the credit process. Educational programs like this rather than government overreach should be utilized to help Americans gain greater financial stability.
November 2nd, 2023
