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In a letter submitted to a House Judiciary subcommittee yesterday, NAFCU reiterated the need to rewrite the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to address lawsuit abuse and modernize its antiquated approach to telecommunications.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on the TCPA yesterday and heard from both industry and consumer groups. Subcommittee Chairman Steve King, R-Iowa, noted the need forreformdue to the frivolous lawsuits stemming from the TCPA while ensuring that consumers have access to vital information from school, hospitals, financial institutions and other key service providers.

In a letter to King and Ranking Member Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said the now-25-year-old TCPA prevents consumers from receiving the information they need from their financial institutions. He said the law does not take into account the impact on membership-based institutions or the compliance burden that regulations place on small businesses.

"The time has come to rewrite the provisions of TCPA to account for the modern era of telecommunications," he said. "Unfortunately, the FCC's updatedTCPA Order does not go far enough to modernize TCPA and will make it more difficult for credit unions and other financial institutions to contact their members about identity theft or data breaches."