WASHINGTON—Funding for the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has been included in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG)
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which was passed by the House Appropriations Committee.
As it has previously, the Trump Administration had sought to eliminate the CDFI funding before Congress put the money back. In fact, the committee added an additional $25 million to the committee's recommended level of $191 million as part of an amendment offered by Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-MS).
“We support the many regulatory relief provisions included in the Subcommittee draft that would benefit credit unions. It includes a two-year delay to the effective date of the NCUA’s risk-based capital rule, from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2021,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle in a letter to the House prior to the committee’s markup. “The bill also includes the Mortgage Choice Act, the Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act, the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act, the TRID Improvement Act, and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection–Inspector General Reform Act.”
The bills in the FSGG legislation would:
- Remove certain premiums and title insurance from the points and fees calculation (Mortgage Choice Act)
- Provide credit unions sufficient flexibility to ensure that members have access to the privacy policy pertinent to their relationship with the credit union (Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act)
- Amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to require the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to allow the accurate disclosure of title insurance premiums and any potential available discounts to homebuyers (TRID Improvement Act)
- Repeal NCUA’s risk-based capital rule (Common Sense Credit Union Capital Relief Act)
- Create an independent inspector general at the bureau (Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection–Inspector General Reform Act)
CUNA said it also supports the loan limit designations for the Small Businesses Administration’s 7(a) program (set at $30 billion) and 504 loan program (set at $7.5 billion).
Loans made under those programs can be partially guaranteed by the government, and the guaranteed portions do not count against a credit union’s statutory cap on member business lending, set at 12.25% of assets.