WASHINGTON—Credit unions remain focused on several issues and pieces of legislation this week, but the primary focus remains on moving forward on the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S 2155).
CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said the trade association hopes to learn more about whether the Senate has reached some sort of time agreement on S 2155 and what other amendments to the bill will be considered.
Pointing to several House bills set for consideration this week, Donovan said, “What is going on in the House and Senate is not independent—what we are seeing in the House now, and what we have been seeing over the past five to six weeks. The House has been taking individual bills and passing them with large bipartisan majorities. Of course, the Senate has come together with a strong bipartisan regulatory relief bill. So, what you are seeing play out as the House continues to consider individual pieces of legislation is a little bit of a dance or negotiation between the two chambers, with Chairman (Jeb) Hensarling (R-TX) trying to make the case that provisions and bills passed by the House should be included in the Senate bill. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out…understanding that ultimately if something were to become law it would have to be reconciled between the Senate and the house.”
NAFCU said it is calling on all credit unions to reach out to their senators ahead of a final vote on S. 2155—which NAFCU said is expected later this week—to urge them to support the bill. “NAFCU lobbyists remain engaged on Capitol Hill and are monitoring proposed amendments,” the trade association stated.
The House this week is expected to take up several relief bills:
- The Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk (TAILOR) Act of 2017 (HR 1116), which would ensure that the NCUA, CFPB and other regulators do not use a one-size-fits-all approach to rulemaking
- The Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act (HR 4545), which would set standards for examination fairness for federal financial institution regulators, including the NCUA, including clear guidance from regulators, consistency from exam to exam, timeliness of reported exam results and an independent appeals process free of examiner retaliation
- Also on Congress' to-do list is a government funding package and reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by March 23
Hearings of note on Capitol Hill this week include:
- On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment will examine the cryptocurrencies and initial coin offering (ICO) markets
- On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will review the federal regulatory process
- On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will do a post-tax reform evaluation of recently expired tax provisions
- On Thursday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance will address the monetization and illicit use of stolen data after a data security breach has occurred
- Throughout this week, the House Appropriations Committee will review the budgets of various federal government departments.
Also this week:
- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will hear summary judgment motions at 10 a.m. ET Wednesday in the bankers' case against the NCUA's field-of-membership (FOM) rule, which took effect in February 2017