Katie Britt and colleagues introduce bill to allow consumers improve their credit ratings
U.S. Senator Katie Britt joined Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) in introducing the Credit Access and Inclusion Act to responsibly expand credit access for millions of Americans with limited or non-existent credit histories. The sponsors said that this bipartisan legislation would permit property owners and utility and telecom providers to report payment data to credit reporting agencies, allowing consumers with an established track record of paying their bills on time the additional opportunity to develop a positive credit history. “Hardworking Alabamians and Americans who have demonstrated financial responsibility deserve a pathway to establish and build their credit,” said Sen. Britt. “This bill takes into consideration the varying circumstances and experiences of individuals who hope to achieve their American Dream. Credit reporting is a crucial component in our nation’s economy to establish financial stability for the individual and the lender – this legislation simply incorporates a complete history of on-time payments, like rent and utilities, to reflect an accurate credit score.” “If you pay your bills on time, your credit score should reflect it,” stated Scott. “Americans shouldn’t be held back from purchasing a home, financing their education, or pursuing their dreams simply because their on-time payments don’t happen to count towards their credit scores. This bill will remove needless barriers and help hardworking Americans gain access to credit.” Sens. Britt and Ranking Member Scott in cosponsoring the bill are Senators Joe Manchin (D- West Virginia), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Angus King (I-Maine), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming). U.S. Congressman French Hill (R-Arkansas) introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives last week, along with Reps. Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota), David Schweikert (R-Arizona), Michelle Steel (R-California), Young Kim (R-California), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Florida), and Byron Donalds (R-Florida). According to information provided by Sens. Britt and Scott, approximately 26 million Americans are “credit invisible,” meaning they lack credit records or a history of traditional payments, such as student loans, car loans, or mortgage payments. Having no credit or thin credit makes economic mobility difficult and hampers an individual’s ability to purchase a home, take out student loans, buy a car, or even get a job. The Credit Access and Inclusion Act allows credit bureaus to collect payment data for services not traditionally factored into credit reporting, such as rent, internet, phone, electricity, and utility payments. Factoring these payments into credit reporting would expand credit histories and generate credit scores for consumers who were previously “unscorable.” Many Americans who don’t have credit cards, mortgages, car payments, etc., don’t have enough open accounts to generate a credit score. Some people, however, are just starting out in life, while some people with no credit accounts may have significant actual wealth. Katie Britt is a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Reps. Barry Moore and Mo Brooks demand DOD halt involuntary discharges for vaccine refusal immediately
Reps. Barry Moore and Mo Brooks joined 40 of their colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense (DOD) to demand that they halt efforts to involuntarily discharge members of the military who have refused COVID-19 vaccination. The letter requests that they stop until an in-depth review of natural immunity is complete, and the Department has issued uniform procedures for vaccine exemptions. According to Moore’s press release, Section 720 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 requires the DOD to establish uniform procedures for issuing exemptions and fully consider natural immunity. This includes eligibility timelines for consideration of exemptions for service members nearing separation and retirement in the development of uniform procedures relating to administrative exemptions. According to an NPR report, as of January 26, 96% of active troops had been completely vaccinated, while 3,350 soldiers had refused to get the vaccine. Nearly 5,900 have received temporary exemptions. “The DOD must immediately halt efforts to discharge our active-duty military members who refuse to get the vaccine just because overreaching politicians want to continue intervening in the private lives of the American people,” said Moore. “We must ensure that the DOD completes an in-depth review of natural immunity. I will continue to fight against the tyrannical vaccine mandate on our service members.” The letter states, “We are gravely concerned that the military services are proceeding with involuntary discharges when it is unclear to us whether uniform procedures have been issued by the Department of Defense. If the Department of Defense has not issued uniform procedures or reviewed the inclusion of natural immunity and the military services are moving forward with involuntary discharges, then we believe the Department is ignoring and violating Section 720. Congress included this language to protect our service members, and we expect the Department of Defense to abide by the law.” Additional members of Congress to sign the letter include Vicky Hartzler, Doug Lamborn, Elise Stefanik, Brian Mast, David McKinley, Darrell Issa, Kevin Hern, Rodney Davis, Bill Huizenga, Yvette Herrell, Michael Waltz, Bill Posey, Michael Guest, David Valadao, Thomas Tiffany, Pete Stauber, Mike Kelly, Andy Biggs, Neal Dunn, Gus Bilirakis, Dan Crenshaw, Randy Weber, Sr., Louie Gohmert, Lauren Boebert, Glenn Grothman, Alex Mooney, Joe Wilson, Scott DesJarlais, Jack Bergman, David Schweikert, Jeff Duncan, Ralph Norman, Bruce Westerman, Jim Banks, Rick Crawford, Jodey Arrington, Christopher H. Smith, Victoria Spartz, Ted Budd, and Gregory Steube.
Conservatives decry door-to-door vaccine checks
Two Alabama leaders, Mo Brooks and Barry Moore, and dozens of other members of Congress sent a joint letter to President Joe Biden last week regarding his decision to implement door-to-door checks on the American people to coerce them into receiving the COVID-19 vaccine: The letter states, “Your administration’s decision to go door-to-door to coerce individuals to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is deeply disturbing and violates the privacy of Americans. The private health information of millions of Americans should never be a matter of concern for the federal government. Americans must be free to make their own personal health choices.” The concern, coming mostly from Republicans, comes from a statement from President Biden on July 6, when he stated, “Now we need to go to community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oftentimes, door to door – literally knocking on doors – to get help to the remaining people protected from the virus.” During the White House briefing, the president also called on providing vaccines to all healthcare providers, including pediatricians, and discussed providing mobile clinics that could be set up at events like sports events and festivals. Even though Alabama has one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 vaccinations in the country, there are no plans to start a door-to-door campaign. According to NBC15, Dr. Karen Landers commented that it was a strategy that was discussed but that the state is not adopting it. Dr. Landers stated, “No, we are not doing that in this point in time as far as going door to door.” “Persons just really not necessarily being receptive to persons coming on to their property or coming to their door with information,” she said. Jim Zeigler recently called on Governor Kay Ivey to ban what he called “door-to-door vaccine squads” in Alabama. Zeigler asked Ivey to “use the strongest steps to clearly direct federal agents and their recruits that their entry onto home properties in Alabama could legally be considered trespassing.” Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said in a statement, “Door-to-door vaccine checks on Americans are a blatant abuse of government authority and a pure power play by the Biden administration. The federal government has no right to track the private health information of Americans or to intimidate people into getting the vaccine. Instead of meddling in private medical decisions, the Biden administration should focus on addressing the border crisis, the rampant rise in inflation, and the crime wave that is plaguing American cities – all crises it created. The door-to-door spying on Americans is one more example of the burgeoning surveillance state by the national government.” Biggs posted on Twitter, “I just sent a letter to Biden demanding answers on his door-to-door vaccine checks. The fed gov has no right to track the private health information of Americans or to intimidate people into getting the vaccine.” Other leaders that signed the letter include David Schweikert, Paul Gosar, Ralph Norman, Bob Good, Warren Davidson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Tiffany, Jody Hice, Lauren Boebert, Alex Mooney, Chip Roy, Andy Harris, Scott DesJarlais, Andrew Clyde, Yvette Herrell, H. Morgan Griffith, Bill Posey, Randy Weber, Michael Cloud, Dan Bishop, Ben Cline, Mary Miller, Louie Gohmert, Debbie Lesko, Mike Garcia, and Matt Gaetz.
