Newsroom
House passes ADA bill, offers NAFCU-sought website relief
After months of NAFCU engagement on Capitol Hill, the House today passed NAFCU-supported legislation to address public accessibility concerns under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ahead of passage, lawmakers on the House floor clarified their intentions to address websites in the bill following NAFCU-led efforts.
NAFCU has worked closely with the bill's sponsor Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to get relief on website accessibility demand letters.
"NAFCU would like to thank Reps. Poe and [Rob] Woodall and Chairman Goodlatte for listening to credit unions' concerns about unclear guidance under the ADA as it relates to website accessibility," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "This confusion has led to plaintiffs' attorneys targeting credit unions with meritless lawsuits, hindering the ability of credit unions to meet their members' needs.
"NAFCU and our members strongly support the protections of the ADA and efforts to ensure individuals with disabilities are not discriminated against and have equal access to financial services. We have maintained that this is best achieved through clear guidance and standards for website compliance, not through meritless and costly lawsuits. We appreciate the representatives who realized this challenge and sought to clarify it by supporting this bill."
The ADA Education and Reform Act (H.R. 620) would set conditions for filing civil actions over the failure to remove an architectural barrier to an existing public place by giving businesses time to come into compliance before a lawsuit can proceed, among other things.
During discussion on the bill, Poe and Woodall, R-Ga., had a colloquy on the House floor to discuss website accessibility and asserted that in districts where the courts have determined that ADA applies to websites, H.R. 620 would also apply. This conversation clarified the congressional intent of the legislation and would allow those receiving demand letters related to website accessibility to have time to come into compliance. Poe and Woodall also indicated they would work with the Department of Justice to further clarify the issue.
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
NAFCU has engaged with lawmakers for months to try to expand some of the bill's protections to help curb the meritless lawsuits filed against credit unions for website accessibility under the ADA. Myriad NAFCU resources on ADA compliance can be found here.
Share This
Related Resources
Add to Calendar 2024-06-20 14:00:00 2024-06-20 14:00:00 Creating the Right Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program for YOUR Credit Union Are you creating your first ERM Program for your credit union? Do you want to ensure your current program is complete yet keep it simple? If yes to either question, this webinar is for you! Credit unions must have processes, policies, and procedures in place to assess and manage the risks on their balance sheet. In this webinar, Creating the Right Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program for YOUR Credit Union you’ll learn the fundamental pieces of the ERM puzzle, how they relate to each other, and how to integrate your ERM program into the credit union’s strategic plan. In this educational session, you’ll learn the various components of a strong ERM program and how to put it together using all the parts you already have in your institution. This includes discovering how you can make the process fun to help your team become closer and how to work together better with the common goal of protecting the organization’s assets while fulfilling the credit union’s vision. Topics Covered ERM general background and key definitions How implementing an ERM program can help financial institutions survive and thrive Identifying the specific building blocks/components of a simple yet complete ERM program The three key areas of ERM: Identifying and assessing risk Mitigating and eliminating risk Monitoring and reporting risk Creating an ERM committee charter and choosing the right ERM committee members Integrating the ERM program into your strategic plan Top risk categories and definitions ERM risk assessment matrix – definitions and example Creating the risk management appetite and tolerance statement – description of process Implementing your ERM program ERM program flowchart Key Takeaways Increase overall knowledge of ERM and what it means to have an ERM Program Learn the three ongoing phases of ERM Understand how ERM is integrated into the strategic plan Determine the benefits of having an established ERM program Register Now $295 Members | $395 Nonmembers(Additional $50 for USB)One registration gives your entire team access to the live webinar and on-demand recording until June 20, 2025Go to the Online Training Center to access the webinar after purchase » Who Should Attend Chief Credit Officers CFOs Internal Auditors NCCOs, NCRMs, compliance and risk titles Education Credits NCRMs will recieve 1.5 CEUs for participating in this webinar NCCOs will recieve 1.5 CEUs for participating in this webinar Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Creating the Right Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program for YOUR Credit Union
Credits: NCCO, NCBSO, NCVE
Webinar
Add to Calendar 2024-06-18 14:00:00 2024-06-18 14:00:00 Traditional Disability Management for the Modern Workforce With an educated workforce seeking to assert their rights, and an ever-increasing list of legislative statutes and requirements, many employers have difficulty on keeping up to date regarding disability management issues in the modern workplace. Many employers generally are aware of their obligations regarding disability and accommodation issues in the workplace but lose track of more nuanced and new requirements under the law. In this webinar, Traditional Disability Management for the Modern Workforce, you’ll review the new statutory landscape facing credit unions that deal with these issues, and the best practices to ensure legal compliance. Key Takeaways Learn how to navigate legal compliance in a statute driven landscape Discover best practices to engage in the disability interactive process Understand compliance with the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Register Now $295 Members | $395 Nonmembers(Additional $50 for USB)One registration gives your entire team access to the live webinar and on-demand recording until June 18, 2025Go to the Online Training Center to access the webinar after purchase » Who Should Attend HR staff COOs Staff attorneys Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Traditional Disability Management for the Modern Workforce
Webinar
Add to Calendar 2024-06-13 14:00:00 2024-06-13 14:00:00 CFPB Non-Rulemaking Guidance: A Primer In June 2022, Director Rohit Chopra wrote in a blog post that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was “seeking to move away from highly complicated rules that have long been a staple of consumer financial regulation and towards simpler and clearer rules” and that the agency was “dramatically increasing the amount of guidance it’s providing to the marketplace, in accordance with the same principles.” In 2022 alone, the CFPB issued over 20 pieces of formal non-rulemaking guidance (e.g., advisory opinions, interpretive rules, circulars) as well as informal guidance through the Director’s public remarks, press releases, blogs, and other mediums. Not all guidance is created equal. Understanding the types of guidance and their intended audience may help inform the potential impact of the guidance for your credit union. Key Takeaways Discover the background on the CFPB’s increased issuance of non-rulemaking guidance Explore the different types of CFPB guidance and their legal and policy distinctions Review examples of recent noteworthy CFPB guidance that affect credit unions Investigate compliance challenges created by the increased volume and velocity of CFPB guidance Register Now $295 Members | $395 Nonmembers(Additional $50 for USB)One registration gives your entire team access to the live webinar and on-demand recording until June 13, 2025Go to the Online Training Center to access the webinar after purchase » Who Should Attend NCBSOs NCCOs NCRMs BSA, compliance and risk titles Education Credits NCRMs will receive 1.0 CEUs for participating in this webinar NCCOs will receive 1.0 CEUs for participating in this webinar Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
CFPB Non-Rulemaking Guidance: A Primer
Credits: NCCO, NCRM
Webinar
Add to Calendar 2024-06-11 14:00:00 2024-06-11 14:00:00 Developing Your BSA Training Program Learn how to conduct your annual Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) training program, according to regulatory requirements and your credit union needs, during this webinar, Developing Your BSA Training Program. Conducting BSA training across your credit union is an expectation of NCUA, the CFPB and FinCEN. Training is one of the five pillars of compliance with the BSA. Regulators will look at the completeness of your staff training as a sign of your credit union’s ability to detect and deter money laundering. A strong BSA training program recognizes different learning objectives based on knowledge levels, while leveraging the practical experience of your credit union team Members. Your BSA training program should be unique to the needs and strengths of your credit union, its membership base, risk appetite and product mix. In this webinar, you’ll explore the foundational information that regulators expect a BSA training program to cover and, depending on your credit union, how it can sometimes be beneficial to tailor your training according to team member role and level of member interaction. Key Takeaways Understand and anticipate what regulators will be looking for during an examination of your BSA training program Examine how to provide a foundational BSA training program, while tailoring targeted training according to the needs of different Team member experience and roles within your credit union Learn what the board, supervisory committee and senior leadership responsibilities are and what they need to know regarding BSA training compliance Register Now $295 Members | $395 Nonmembers(Additional $50 for USB)One registration gives your entire team access to the live webinar and on-demand recording until June 11, 2025Go to the Online Training Center to access the webinar after purchase » Who Should Attend NCCOs and compliance titles NCRMs and risk titles NCBSOs and BSA titles IT titles Education Credits NCRMs will receive 1.5 CEUs for participating in this webinar NCCOs will receive 1.5 CEUs for participating in this webinar NCBSOs will receive 1.5 CEUs for participating in this webinar Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Developing Your BSA Training Program
Credits: NCCO, NCRM, NCBSO
Webinar
Get daily updates.
Subscribe to NAFCU today.