WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has signed the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which does not include language that could have disadvantaged CUs serving members on military bases.
NAFCU and CUNA had lobbied House and Senate conferees to drop a provision that would have required the Department of Defense (DoD) to allow all banks to operate rent free on military installations, disadvantaging credit unions.
"We thank congressional leaders for passing the NDAA with this NAFCU-sought change," said NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt. "Credit unions have played an important role in helping our military men and women gain access to needed financial services, and we are pleased that this will continue to be the case."
“Removal of this provision was a win for military credit unions, who need to be able to maintain unrestrained but discretionary access to military installations to ensure they are able to continue their service to military members and families,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “This win is a direct result of outreach from CUNA, the Defense Credit Union Council, state leagues and military credit unions.”
As CUToday.info reported earlier, the free-rent-for-banks provision was included in the initial House-passed version of the NDAA, but not the Senate's.
Credit unions have nominal lease space in federal buildings and on military bases from a provision in the Federal Credit Union Act.
What Is Also Included
NAFCU said it was concerned that the provision could disadvantage credit unions because it did not contain some of the regulatory restrictions that they have with their nominal leases.
The final NDAA conference report does include the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) legislation; however, the adopted version does not include language to delay the NCUA's risk-based capital (RBC) rule, NAFCU said. A provision to delay the RBC is included in two other bills that are still moving through Congress. Earlier this month, the NCUA Board proposed a one-year delay of the rule and a change in the definition of a complex credit union from $100 million to $500 million.