ACA Holds Successful Washington, D.C. Fly-In

ACA International's federal government affairs office in Washington, D.C., hosted a grand opening reception and open house in conjunction with a fly-in Sept. 30-Oct.1, 2009. (Read Mike Ginsberg's take on the event in his blog here).

The grand opening ceremony began with a ribbon cutting outside the building led by ACA President Karolyn Rubin, followed by a reception inside. The federal government affairs office was filled with ACA members and invited guests. The building proved to be very accommodating for the open house event and attendees commented on the convenient location and the indisputable advantages of having a home base right in the heart of Capitol Hill.

ACA members also hit the Hill to advocate on behalf of the industry. Thirty-four ACA members met with 51 members of Congress and their staff and discussed issues critical to the credit and collection industry, specifically reforms to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, proposed legislation to improve debt media, student loans, the ability to call wireless numbers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the proposed creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

The CFPA is being championed by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.). ACA's Immediate Past President Jay Gonsalves, who is a constituent of Frank's, joined ACA staff in a meeting with the chairman to lay out ACA's vision of how the CFPA could be modified to better fit the collection industry.

Every meeting attended by ACA members marked another critical step forward in building and maintaining relationships with congressional offices, and each meeting provided the opportunity to communicate directly with a wide array of lawmakers who are currently considering legislation that would affect ACA members.

As part of the fly-in, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) all visited ACA's office and addressed the members at various times. Moore emphasized the importance of overcoming partisanship to find common ground to accomplish goals set by the American people. Thune focused on the anti-business sentiment pervasive in Congress and noted the role of the Senate in preventing anti-business sentiment from becoming enacted legislation. Grassley, who came to ACA's office during a break in the health care bill markup, provided focused insight into proposed health care legislation and the direction and state of health care reform.

ACA is following up on various requests stemming from the office visits and continuing to press forward on its agenda. Please visit our Web site at www.acainternational.org/GovernmentAffairs for more detailed information on the issues critical to the industry and ways in which you can help.