WASHINGTON–What is generally a quiet month on Capitol Hill, August, is seeing some nontraditional activity that credit unions are watching.
While the House is in recess and its members in their home districts, the Senate remains in the midst of significant debate around the initial infrastructure package, which has mostly bipartisan support and could pass as early as today. The Senate remained in session over the weekend to debate the 2,700-page, $550-billion bill.
The bill includes $65 billion for investment in improving the country’s broadband infrastructure, which could ultimately affect the number of consumers who use digital technologies such as online banking. It further includes another $7.5 billion to go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers, which could have a bearing on the types of vehicles CU members are purchasing and financing.
“After that, the Senate will consider a budget resolution as well as a larger infrastructure bill that is expected to be partisan and supported only by Democrats,” said Ryan Donovan, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer. “We will be monitoring those for anything of concern to credit unions.”