WASHINGTON–One senator is threatening to slow down legislation—including any bills or resolutions that would fund the government—in order to force action on the Credit Card Competition Act.
Making the threat is Sen. Roger Marshall, the Kansas Republican who is a primary co-sponsor on the bill in the Senate and who has promised to bring it to a vote in this session of Congress.
“Shutting down the government for a money grab for big box retailers is not something we can support,” said Jason Stverak, deputy chief advocacy officer for federal government affairs with CUNA.
Any slowdown would also draw the ire of many in Congress, especially among Republicans, with NAFCU VP-Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler noting GOP members have been trying to “cobble together” a continuing resolution to keep the lights on in the federal government with the clock ticking.
“We're less than two weeks away from the end of the fiscal year and the need for congressional action to keep the government funded,” said Thaler, noting the Senate is also working on appropriations and trying to move a minibus bill.
Strong Opposition
As CUToday.info has been reporting, Stverak noted the legislation that is firmly opposed by credit unions remains a primary focus in Washington, even as the nation’s retailers and merchants are just as adamantly supporting the bill.
Thaler reminded credit unions continue to be wary of the Credit Card Competition Act or portions of the legislation being attached to larger spending bills, such as the National Defense Authorization Act.
“We will continue to advocate for the importance of interchange and for what it allows credit unions to do to serve the underserved,” said Stverak. “This legislation is an incredibly bad solution to issues. We look forward to working with our partners and our trade association partners here in D.C. to educate members of Congress on the perils of this legislation.”
Thaler added that NAFCU is similarly warning Congress about the “negative impact” the credit card bill will have on consumers if it passes.
Groups in Town
Meanwhile, among the CU organizations in Washington this week to hike the Hill will be representatives from Wisconsin, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee and Kentucky, said Stverak, noting new advertising around the issue will make its debut this week (see related story).
Delegations from retailers and merchants are also in D.C. making their case for the bill.
“We're going to make sure that members of Congress and their staff get the full story about the negative impact of passing this interchange of legislation will have on Main Street America,” Stverak added.
Hearings to Watch
Separately, Stverak said CUNA is paying attention to a number of hearings in Washington this week, including:
Today
- House Subcommittee on Capital Markets: Oversight of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management
- House Subcommittee on Capital Markets: A Holistic Review of Regulators: Regulatory Overreach and Economic Consequences. NAFCU’s Thaler said regulatory overreach is a big reason there are fewer and fewer financial institutions, including CUs, in the U.S.
Wednesday
- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs: Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services
- House Committee on Financial Services mark-up of legislation that includes language related to restricting a central bank digital currency, which NAFCU has opposed.
Next Week
Looking to next week, Thaler noted the Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a hearing to mark-up banking legislation and it “sounds like the parameters are in place for a bipartisan deal to move forward” on cannabis banking, which most FIs currently refrain from doing due to federal prohibitions.
Are You Being Gouged for Bank-Like Subscription Fees for Old News? Here’s a CU-Like Way to Fix That
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news”” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?