Dr. Michael A. Turner, President and Senior Scholar of the Information Policy Institute today addressed the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI) in Washington D.C. CELI assembled a blue ribbon panel of experts to discuss ongoing issues related to the renewal of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Other Participants included, J. Howard Beales, III, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Moderated by David Klaus, President and CEO of CELI, each member of the panel had an opportunity of to present their opinion regarding the renewal of FCRA legislation followed by a period for Q&A. The event was well attended by Congressional staffers, regulators, the press and industry watchers.
Dr. Turner presented the Institute’s findings from it’s recent report, The Fair Credit Reporting Act: Access, Efficiency, and Opportunity. Dr. Turner also presented new findings from a follow-up study to the initial report. Both reports were prepared jointly by the Institute and the National Chamber Foundation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Citing this new research, Dr. Turner, stated that “80% to 90% of consumers could expect to see a change in their credit scores,” if FCRA preemptions are modified or allowed to expire. Dr. Turner warned of the consumer fallout stating that “roughly 6.3 million borrowers who would have approved for general purpose credit would be denied credit.”
After the panel concluded Dr. Turner stated, “CELI provides a valuable avenue to educate both members and staff on Capitol Hill. Our participation here is just another example of the success our Research, Education and Outreach (REO©) model has for major policy debates.