FederalDaily - February 8, 2007

Groups Ask Pentagon to Deny Banks Exemption

A coalition of consumer groups asked DoD to deny a request from banks seeking an exemption to the new 36-percent cap on interest rates for so-called “payday” loans to military families. The Pentagon currently is writing rules to implement the new interest cap— called the Military Lending Act, and passed last fall as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. The American Bankers Association and America's Community Bankers have asked the Pentagon to exempt banks from the law’s central measure—an annual interest rate limit of 36 percent for loans to military families, said the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) on Feb. 6. CRL was one of 33 advocacy groups which signed a letter seeking the denial. Payday and car title lenders are the most obvious financial predators, but abuses by banks are not unheard of either, said the consumer groups. Banks have charged 350 percent and higher on Internet payday and installment loans. “A uniform 36-percent cap would level the playing field for all lenders,” said Kathleen Keest, senior CRL policy counsel. To see more, go to: www.responsiblelending.org/press/releases/page.jsp?itemID=31589034.

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NARFE Seeks Elimination of GPO & WEP

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees’ Association (NARFE) pledged to renew its fight seeking the elimination of two Social Security (SS) provisions which reduce benefits for some retired federal employees. At issue is a bill, HR 82, that would address the inequities in the two provisions—the Government Pension Offset Provision (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), said NARFE President Margaret  Baptiste on Feb. 6. The bipartisan measure is cosponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif. The GPO, in effect since 1983, prevents government retirees who were first eligible to retire in 1982 and later from collecting both a government annuity and Social Security benefits based on their spouse’s work. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of a retired or disabled worker who also receives a government annuity based on their own work. “Both offsets were drafted to create a specific amount of budget savings rather than to ensure benefit equity among retirees. It’s unfair and unconscionable that [retirees] endure a double whammy because of their public service careers,” Baptiste said. To see more, go to: www.narfe.org/departments/pr/guest/articles.cfm?ID=1086.

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New VA Budget Boosts Some Healthcare Co-Pays

Veterans’ service organizations are calling on Congress to reject a White House proposal to increase prescription co-payments and create annual enrollment fees for almost 2 million vets. The increase in fees for Category 7 and 8 veterans—who do not have service-connected disabilities—is part of the administration’s $84.4 million Fiscal Year 2008 spending plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The co-payment would jump 88 percent, from $8 to $15 per monthly prescription, said Gary Kurpius, head of the 2.4 million member Veterans of Foreign Wars. The enrollment fees would impact these veterans on a graduated scale of $250 to $750 per year and be based on family incomes, Kurpius said Feb. 5. “We remain adamantly opposed to the prescription co-payment increase and enrollment fees,” said Kurpius. “Veterans should not have to pay for healthcare they earned.” To see more, go to: www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=3843.

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