carolyn maloney

First they delayed the reforms; now they’re trying to expedite them.
The House approved legislation today to have its previously passed credit card reforms take effect next month, rather than three months later.
The bill is designed to fix a problem the lawmakers themselves created.

On Monday, it was Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) unveiling legislation to rein in overdraft fees. Today it’s Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) doing the same.
Both bills would require banks to get customer consent before enrolling them in the overdraft protection program; both would cap the number of overdraft fees at six [...]

Democrats on Capitol Hill were all cheers when they passed first-of-its-kind credit card reform earlier in the year — only to become publicly indignant when the card companies began hiking rates and fees in advance of those changes taking hold.
So after some Democrats initially delayed the implementation date until next year — a naked bow [...]

By 35 percent in just two years, according to a report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy group. Those overdraft fees — applied when consumers exceed account balances when making debit card purchases — generated $23.7 billion in 2008, up from $17.5 billion in 2006, CRL found. For context, Americans [...]

In April, we ran a piece about how some Democrats had bowed to the wishes of the banking industry and delayed their credit card reforms until next year, even as consumers have struggled to keep up amid the recession. Inevitably, the banks have used the delay by busily installing rate and fee hikes to beat [...]

The congressional Democrats leading the effort to protect consumers from overdraft fees said today that, despite Tuesday’s news that Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase will adopt some of those protections voluntary, there remains the need to make the safeguards permanent through legislation.
“These are positive changes, but the system has gotten completely out of [...]

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will soon unveil legislation to rein in the overdraft fees that banks charge consumers who exceed their balances with debit card purchases, American Banker reported Thursday (subscription required).
The bill is sure to provoke an outcry from the banking industry, which claims the overdraft policy protects consumers by covering [...]

Congressional Democrats this week have been publicly incredulous that the credit card industry would have the temerity to raise rates and limit lending in the months before legislation restricting those practices takes hold. Indeed, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who in April asked the Federal Reserve to step in to prevent card issuers from raising rates [...]

Yesterday, the House passed legislation allowing federal employees four weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child — a luxury they don’t currently have, instead forced “to cobble together accrued sick days and vacation time,” according to a statement from bill sponsor Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
Among the most vociferous opponents of [...]

Having recently passed long-anticipated credit card reforms, some powerful House Democrats are now putting their weight behind efforts to rein in overdraft fees — the charges applied when consumers (often unknowingly) exceed their balance on debit purchases.
Those fees have become an enormous profit engine for banks, generating $17.5 billion each year, according to a 2007 [...]