House Rules to Package Arbitration Bill for Floor Action
The bill definition of 'consumer dispute' refers to 'securities or other investments, money, or credit.'
Members of the House Rules Committee plan to consider H.R. 1423, the “Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act) bill, at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday.
The House Rules Committee prepares bills for final House floor action and sets the rules for debate on the House floor. House leaders’ “Bills to Be Considered” page shows that the arbitration bill might reach the House floor sometime this week.
Supporters of the bill hope to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that affect disputes over employment, antitrust matters and civil rights issues, and to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that affect consumer disputes.
Supporters also hope to block any provisions that “interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and small businesses to participate in a joint, class, or collective action related to an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute.”
(Related: Advisors Force Wells Fargo Into FINRA Arbitration Over Loss of Business)
The bill does not include any provisions that mention insurance directly or that appear to exclude arbitration provisions affecting the business of insurance.
In three places, the bill refers to disputes involving “securities or other investments, money, or credit.”
The original version of the bill was introduced by Rep. Henry Johnson Jr., D-Ga., in February. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., is listed as the author of the version now under consideration in the House Rules Committee.
The bill has 222 cosponsors. The only Republican cosponsor is Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill by a 22-14 vote Sept. 10. Gaetz voted for the bill. All Democrats present voted for the bill, and all Republicans other than Gaetz voted against the bill.
Disputes involving arbitration provisions have come up often in the life insurance and health insurance communities.
In July, for example, the American Council of Life Insurers included a session on arbitration on the agenda for the ACLI Compliance & Legal Sections annual meeting.
Some members of Congress have talked about using binding arbitration to resolve disputes between patients, insurers and health care providers over bills for emergency care and out-of-network care.
— Read ‘Surprise Medical Bill’ Witnesses Clash Over Binding Arbitration, on ThinkAdvisor.
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