ARLINGTON, Va.–With the second half of the 117th session of Congress now underway, an already tenuous road to any CU-favored legislation being passed will now be made even more difficult by the fact is an election year for the entire House and for more than a third of the Senate.
The biggest bill hanging in the balance is President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, the progress of which has come to a halt after West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin indicted he would not support the bill as it is currently written. With Democrats holding 50 seats in the Senate, no vote can be lost.
But the bill is not dead, and it could return and be included in what could be more than a trillion-dollars in spending provisions credit unions both favor and oppose, noted NAFCU’s vice president of legislative affairs, Brad Thaler.
“Obviously, the non-passage is something that is always subject to change,” said Thaler. “There is still discussion over whether it can be revised and passed. It has provisions we are concerned about, notably the increased IRS reporting, which was a pay-for and could remain out there as it has been supported by the administration. That’s something we will remain vigilant on.
“There is also the SBA direct lending, provision which we are also concerned about, so we will continue to watch what happens in that space,” Thaler continued. “We think there are better options for Congress to pursue, such as legislation to make it easier for credit unions to make small dollar loans and to help small businesses.”
Will Cannabis-Related Legislation Ever Move?
In the most recent session of Congress at the end of 2021, many proponents of cannabis-related legislation and specifically the SAFE Act, which would remove federal prohibitions against providing financial services to cannabis companies, were excited over the prospect the legislation was getting close to the finishing line when it was included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
But the SAFE Act was removed from the final version of the NDAA, and credit unions and other supporters are back to square one.
“I think there still is an opportunity to still get the SAFE Act passed,” said Thaler. “It has had bipartisan support in the House on multiple occasions. I think there is bipartisan support for it in the Senate. Some of it is caught up in other issues and that has been some of the challenge.
“Because it is a popular provision, those who want to move other provisions would like to have this provision in their bill, such as criminal justice reform or changes in drug policy,” Thaler continued. “Given it’s an election year and a difficult environment, we will see it continue to come up again. It’s not off the table in this Congress.”
Digital Assets
As CUToday.info reported here, NAFCU and about a dozen of its member credit unions met with Treasury’s Office of Financial Institutions to discuss digital assets and share concerns.
Thaler said credit unions may see some action on digital assets in 2022, but it’s not likely to come from Congress.
“It is a timely and hot topic in Congress,” said Thaler. “We’re going to see a continued focus on it, but I don’t know if we’re going to see a consensus on an approach for legislation in 2022, unless something were to emerge or Congress felt it needed to step in because things or outside factors.
“I do think we’re going to see regulatory scrutiny in this area. In terms of what can be done by regulators, we’ve engaged NCUA and Treasury on this. We could see some types of things develop on that front because it’s hard for Congress to pass anything. There is a lot of talk here and maybe it will set up something for next Congress.”
Looking Ahead to 2022
Looking ahead to the next session of Congress, Thaler said NAFCU will continue to work to create an environment to allow credit unions to thrive and to ensure that the regulatory burden does not increase.