ARLINGTON, Va.–While NAFCU will be engaged in many of the hearings being held on Capitol Hill this week that are of interest to credit unions, it is continuing to
work behind the scenes as it seeks to make progress on resolving lawsuits related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and CU websites.
It’s an issue on which some progress was made in the last Congress and which progress is also being made in the current Congress, as well as the administration, according to NAFCU EVP/General Counsel Carrie Hunt.
While progress on CU priorities in Congress is often slowed or even stifled by opposition from other groups, such as the banking industry or retailers, there is no organized opposition to clarifying laws around whether website accessibility falls under the ADA. It’s an issue over which multiple credit unions have been sued and which continues its wind through the courts. So why the lack of progress in Congress and especially the administration?
It isn’t pushback, said Hunt, but instead the uncertainty that has marked recent years at the Department of Justice. Even under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions there were numerous vacancies, pointed out Hunt. When Sessions resigned, an interim AG was appointed, and now a new attorney general, William Barr, is just moving into the office having been confirmed by the Senate.
Many of the vacancies remain in positions at the DoJ related to making progress on the issue, according to Hunt. Hunt said NAFCU is hopeful that as things settle down in the department the ADA/website question will be addressed.