SGA Team Publishes Annual Preview/Review Report
AFSA’s State Government Affairs (SGA) team published its 2022 State Legislative Preview and 2021 Review white paper this week. This paper is intended to provide AFSA members with a comprehensive preview of state legislative and regulatory activity in 2022 relating to key issues for AFSA members by reviewing the trends of the previous legislative session. The 2021 legislative session proved to be nearly as dynamic and fast-paced as 2020 was, forcing many companies to move fast in order to comply with various new rules, regulations, legislation and orders from state governments. Legislators remained focused on the economic effects of the pandemic, and many states are taking closer looks at consumer credit through a prism of fairness and even racial justice. In addition, privacy remained a hot topic in the states and will likely remain so in the future.
In addition, the paper provides a brief overview of the 2021 elections in New Jersey and Virginia. In Virginia, Republicans made major gains by flipping the state house and winning the gubernatorial election. In New Jersey, Democrats maintained control of the legislature. The governor’s race was unexpectedly close with Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy narrowly winning re-election.
The paper also reviews trends in remote work. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on the financial services industry, remote work will be an important aspect of the recovery. During the past year, AFSA advocated on behalf of its members to permanently authorize remote work. Many states such as Connecticut, Texas, Vermont, and Washington passed bills allowing employees of licensees to work remotely on a permanent basis. Many other states, including Idaho and Maryland, issued new guidance or rules authorizing permanent remote work.
This paper, along with SGA’s other white papers, can be found on the SGA resources section of AFSA’s website.
January 5th, 2022
