Congress moves to gut small-business lending discrimination data collection
S. 557 — 1071 Repeal to Protect Small Business Lending Act · Filed by John Kennedy (R-LA) · 15 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill repeals Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which requires financial institutions to collect and report data on small business loans. The bill removes the data-collection mandate that was added by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, eliminating reporting requirements that lenders must currently fulfill.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative effect is to eliminate data-collection requirements that serve as the primary enforcement mechanism for fair-lending law under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. While framed as regulatory relief for lenders, the mechanism removes transparency and accountability tools that protect borrowers from discrimination.
What the text implies
- Eliminates the primary data source used by the CFPB, DOJ, and private litigants to detect and prove lending discrimination against protected classes (race, gender, national origin, etc.). Without this data, discrimination becomes harder to detect and prosecute.
- Removes transparency that allows researchers, journalists, and advocacy groups to monitor whether small-business lending is equitable across demographic groups and geographic regions.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
community banks; credit unions; larger financial institutions