WASHINGTON–Credit unions this week in Washington will be watching a number of congressional hearings, with another eye on a bill that provides funding to the defense department.
Among the hearings of interest to both CUNA and NAFCU:
- On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing on the Labor Department’s proposed rule over on overtime pay. The Labor Department’s proposal, issued last summer, would allow certain full-time, salaried workers making less than $50,440 annually to be eligible for overtime. In a statement, NAFCU said it supports fair overtime rules, but has raised concerns about some of the proposed changes’ impact on credit unions. Witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing will include representatives from Littler Mendelson, P.C., Jobs With Justice, the Besh Restaurant Group, the Economic Policy Institute and Operation Smile.
- On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing examining possible reforms to the U.S. Postal Service.
- On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee’s Housing and Insurance Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled “The Future of Housing in America: A Comparison of the United Kingdom and United States Models for Affordable Housing.”
- On Thursday, House Science and Technology Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the FDIC data breaches.
- Also on Thursday, House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee will hold a Member Day Hearing on Tax Legislation.
Both credit union trade groups said they are watching progress of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up their version of the legislation this week, while the House Armed Services Committee marked up and favorably reported their version at the end of April with a bipartisan vote of 60-2. The House Rules Committee is expected to hold their mark-up next week, after which the bill will go to the House floor for further consideration, noted NAFCU.
“We’ll be carefully watching the amendments attached to that bill,” added CUNA’s Ryan Donovan. “That has historically been a candidate for financial services (amendments).”