MARTINSVILLE, Va.–A former employee of CUNA who is running for Congress has as part of his platform at least one plank that’s at odds with his former employer.
Justin Santopietro is a candidate in the June 12 primary for the Democratic nomination in the 9th Congressional district representing southwestern Virginia. In a piece published by the Martinsville Bulletin, Santopietro, who was a regulatory policy analyst at CUNA who also worked in its Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy Department, questioned efforts to eliminate financial industry reforms that were part of Dodd Frank and which CUNA has been actively seeking to have rolled back.
Prior to joining CUNA, Santopietro also worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and said his “career in the financial services world gives me a unique perspective on this bill.”
“No financial institution loves regulatory compliance. I can say with experience that the costs and burdens of such regulations are often far smaller than what the industry and its lobbyists claim,” wrote Santopietro. “Unlike many of the real productive enterprises in our economy, small and large banks alike have been thriving since the self-imposed crash of 2008. The rate of lending growth has steadily increased since 2010, and the Dow is at record highs. While there are certainly a few regulatory changes that could help small financial institutions, they are swamped by the big-bank goodies in this bill. Aside from that, in a country where the middle-class is disappearing and thousands die from lack of healthcare, it is worth considering why our representatives are working on such legislation at all.”
Santopietro took particular aim at efforts to change the Qualified Mortgage rule and other rules and said the Senate’s reg relief legislation, S 2155, “blows a huge hole” in many consumer protections.