Sponsors (16)
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Repeals the federal requirement that lenders collect and report small‑business loan application data and makes conforming edits to Dodd‑Frank and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to remove references to the repealed data‑collection provisions. It also records findings asserting that the data‑collection rule increased compliance costs and burdened smaller institutions, and that repeal would reduce regulatory barriers and expand access to credit.
Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, as added by section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 111–203), imposes data collection and reporting requirements on financial institutions regarding small business loans.
These requirements have resulted in increased compliance costs for financial institutions, potentially reducing access to credit for small businesses.
The regulatory burdens created by these requirements disproportionately impact smaller financial institutions, such as community banks and credit unions, which are critical to small business lending.
Repealing these requirements will reduce regulatory barriers and support greater access to credit for small businesses.
Repeal Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (this removes the statutory small business loan data collection requirement).
Primary direct effects: community banks, credit unions, small and mid‑size depository institutions, and other lenders who previously had to collect and report small‑business loan data will no longer be legally required to perform that data collection and reporting, reducing their compliance costs and administrative burden. Small businesses and loan applicants may experience indirect effects: proponents argue reduced lender compliance costs could increase credit availability or lower loan costs, particularly from smaller lenders; opponents argue the repeal removes a key data source used by regulators, researchers, and fair‑lending advocates to detect discriminatory or uneven lending patterns and to target interventions. Regulators (including agencies that used the data) will lose a statutory reporting stream and will need to rely on other data sources to monitor small‑business lending. Researchers, community groups, and consumer protection organizations will likewise lose a standardized federal dataset used to study access to credit. The conforming deletions in Dodd‑Frank and the ECOA are technical but necessary to remove dangling cross‑references; they do not independently create new programs or funding. Overall, the bill reduces regulatory reporting obligations while also reducing public visibility into small‑business credit markets.
Repeals section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c–2), which imposed small business loan data collection requirements.
Amends section 701(b) (15 U.S.C. 1691(b)) by modifying paragraph punctuation and striking paragraph (5), thereby removing the provision that referenced inquiries under section 1691c–2.
Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) by striking the item in the Act's table of contents relating to section 1071 and by striking section 1071 from the Act.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced February 12, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress February 12, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced in Senate