WASHINGTON—Digital asset legislation and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are top of mind for CUNA and NAFCU this week as both the House and Senate are in session.
“The House will be working on the appropriations bill and we will be monitoring the House Financial Services markup hearing on Wednesday,” said CUNA Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Federal Government Affairs Jason Stverak. “We have continually communicated our concerns and provided suggestions on stablecoin and other digital assets bills that are being considered. We are encouraged with the continued level of cooperation we have received from members of Congress on this issue that is vitally important to America's credit unions.”
Turing to the Senate, Stverak said CUNA is focused on the continued fighting and discussions around the NDAA.
“This has been at the forefront of our efforts to ensure the misguided and ill-conceived Durbin/ Marshall interchange legislation is not included in this bill,” Stverak said. “Now is not the time to hold our nation's military men and women hostage…We would encourage every senator to oppose its inclusion in the NDAA now and well into the future.”
NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Greg Mesack emphasized the trade association is squarely focused on the NDAA.
“There's been a lot of discussion around interchange legislation (being attached to the bill) and Senator (Roger) Marshall (R-KS) tried attaching interchange legislation last week, unsuccessfully. But we're going to keep a close eye and see if he takes another try at it.”
The House Financial Services Committee will be marking up stablecoin and cryptocurrency legislation on Wednesday, noted Mesack, who added, “It looks like they might have found bipartisan agreement which is great.”
He noted NAFCU will also be following Senate Banking Committee activity Wednesday related to fees that impact consumers.