WASHINGTON–While Robert Mueller’s testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday will dominate news coverage this week, credit unions are paying attention to several other hearings, including one at which a credit union executive will testify.
Rachel Pross, chief risk officer at Maps CU in Salem, Ore., will testify on behalf of CUNA today as part of a hearing on cannabis banking conducted by the Senate Banking Committee. The hearing is scheduled July 23, starting at 10:00 a.m. ET and will be streamed live.
As CUToday.info reported here, Pross testified before the House Financial Services Committee in February about the need for Congressional clarity on this matter.
Similarly, Carrie Hunt, EVP and general counsel with NAFCU, told CUToday.info the association is also supportive of Congress finally resolving differences between federal laws and laws in some states in which marijuana is legal.
Credit unions continue to support the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (H.R. 1595), a bill that would allow credit unions and banks to serve legal cannabis businesses and the ancillary businesses that serve them.
The SAFE Banking Act passed the House Financial Services Committee in March with a bipartisan 45-15 vote.
Also on Agenda
Also on the Washington agenda:
Wednesday
- The House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing titled, “The Next Megabank: Examining the Proposed Merger of SunTrust and BB&T.” (As CUToday.info reported here, North Carolina-based Truliant FCU has filed a lawsuit against the banks, which plan to operate under the similar sounding name Truist.)
NAFCU’s Hunt said the trade group does have concerns around too-big-to-fail institutions and it is watching efforts by some, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), to resurrect portions of the Glass Steagall Act.
“In general there are still a lot of questions around whether the corrections that were made coming out of the last recession were the right corrections,” said Hunt.
Thursday
- On Thursday, the House Committee on Financial Services’ Task Force on Financial Technology will hold a hearing titled, “Examining the Use of Alternative Data in Underwriting and Credit Scoring to Expand Access to Credit.”
Friday
- Friday is the comment deadline for NCUA’s proposal to delay the effective date of its risk-based capital rules until Jan. 1, 2022.
In addition to the Mueller hearing, also getting attention in Washington this week, including from credit unions, is legislation that would raise the federal debt ceiling. CUs and many other are also watching progress in the House on HR 3375, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, and at the FCC, which is also debating similar rules.