WASHINGTON—With the CU tax exemption having survived the House tax bill as it cleared the Ways & Means Committee last week, all eyes now are on the Senate Finance Committee, which began a multi-day markup of its tax package Monday.
As CUToday.info reported, the credit union tax status remained also untouched in the initial Senate tax proposal that was released last week.
“We were pleased to see the Senate Finance Committee also recognized the importance of the credit union tax status by making no changes to it,” said CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan. “And, in our review of the amendments that have been filed with the Committee, we don’t see anything that would alter that.”
HR 1 is expected to be considered by the full House this week.
The activity is part of a very busy week in Washington—the House Financial Services Committee begins a 23-bill mark-up today.
“There are three bills we will be indicating our support for,” said Donovan. “They are bills we have supported in the past—HR 1153, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2017; HR 3221, the Securing Access to Affordable Mortgages Act; and HR 3978, the TRID Improvement Act.”
NAFCU said it will be paying attention to those bills during House markup and others, watching carefully the Mortgage Choice Act, which would amend the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to provide consumers with more choices in credit providers and settlement service options.
The bill has been awaiting action by the committee since it was introduced in February by Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Ed Royce (R-CA), David Scott (D-GA), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Mike Doyle (D-PA), and David Joyce (R-OH). It would adjust the TILA mortgage rules by exempting from the qualified mortgage cap on points and fees any affiliated title charges and escrow charges for taxes and insurance, NAFCU explained.
Other bills NAFCU said it is monitoring during House markup include:
- HR 3299, Protecting Consumers' Access to Credit Act of 2017, which would amend various banking laws, including the Federal Credit Union Act, to provide that federal interest rate preemption applies "regardless of whether the loan is subsequently sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred to a third party," including a non-bank purchaser
- HR 4296, which would place some requirements on operational risk capital requirements for financial institutions by a federal regulator, including credit unions and NCUA
As all these bills move forward, Donovan emphasized that CUNA continues to “work closely with and encourage members of the Senate Banking Committee to put together a regulatory relief package that helps credit union members and reduces the regulatory burden for credit unions. We are working closely with that group and we hope they are able to come together with something that is productive.”
Also this week:
- The Senate Banking Committee Tuesday will consider the nomination of Jerome Powell to be chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- The House Judiciary Committee Tuesday will hold an oversight hearing on the Department of Justice and the witness at the hearing will be U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions