WASHINGTON–When President Trump gives his State of the Union Address tonight the credit union community will be looking for at least one specific thing.
“CUNA wants to see President Trump address how regulatory relief can help consumers and are hopeful for comments in that regard,” said Eli Joseph, CUNA’s deputy chief advocacy officer.
Joseph said the Trump Administration has to date made good on its promises around regulatory burden, but CUNA still wants to see more of that focus directed toward community financial institutions.
He reminded it continues to call for support of a bipartisan regulatory relief bill that’s before Congress.
CUNA just joined with several other organizations in writing to members of the Senate leadership to urge floor consideration of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), which passed the Senate Banking Committee in December 2017.
“S. 2155 is a carefully crafted bipartisan bill that includes commonsense improvements to the nation's financial rules that will allow community banks and credit unions to better serve their customers and communities,” the letter reads. “It will open doors for more creditworthy borrowers and businesses, and it will contribute to local economic growth and job creation nationwide.”
CUNA said the bill includes commonsense regulation that would improve the operating environment for community banks and credit unions and allow them to better serve their customers and communities. One credit union-specific provision would exempt one-to-four, non-owner occupied residential loans from a credit union’s member business lending cap, freeing up to as much as $4 billion in additional capital.
Other provisions would also offer regulatory relief through changes to mortgage servicing and lending rules, help protect credit union employees who report suspected elder financial abuse and require the Treasury to study cyber risks.
The bill has 23 cosponsors, including 11 Democrats and one Independent.