ALEXANDRIA, Va.—NCUA Board Member Todd Harper met with NAFCU's Regulatory Committee and Legislative Committee held a joint meeting to discuss the agency’s initiatives and rulemaking efforts underway amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Harper began the meeting by delivering a briefing on the agency’s recent activities and his priorities for the rest of 2020, followed by a brief Q&A segment with committee members, according to the trade group.
“Without a question, the recent economic news has been startling,” Harper said. “In just four months, we have seen more than 50 million Americans file for unemployment.”
Harper noted it seems the economy “is not going to return to its pre-coronavirus levels for some time,” and reassured that the NCUA is working to adjust its operations and oversight to respond to new developments.
“As we find issues, we’re working to address them,” said Harper.
Central Liquidity Facility
Regarding the Central Liquidity Facility, the borrowing authority for which now exceeds $25 billion, as CUToday.info reported here, http://www.cutoday.info/Fresh-Today/NCUA-Reports-CLF-Borrowing-Authority-Now-Exceeds-25-Billion-NAFCU-Urges-Agency-to-Allow-for-Blanket-Reinstatement-of-FOM-Requests
Harper joined his fellow board members in calling on credit unions that are not already belong to the CLF to do so, saying it “shows the true cooperative nature of the credit union system.”
As he has at a number of board meetings, Harper said the agency is committed to ensuring capital and liquidity within credit unions.
When asked about what he would like to see Congress pass to help credit unions in the next round of pandemic-related relief legislation, Harper called for the extension of existing CLF reforms that are set to expire at the end of the year, NAFCU said.
Legislative Opportunities
Harper also reiterated many of the specific legislative opportunities he called for in a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) as they relate to additional coronavirus legislation that would provide credit unions relief, including:
- Relief from the member business lending (MBL) cap
- Allowing all federal credit union charter types to add underserved areas to their field of membership
- Temporary changes and increased flexibilities to the CLF under the CARES Act permanent or extending the provisions to December 31, 2021
- Clarification on issues related to the distribution of economic impact payments
- Increased funding for the agency's Community Development Revolving Loan Funding (CDRLF) for emergency grants
In addition, Harper discussed the NCUA’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), of which he noted “is integral to the success of the NCUA.”