WASHINGTON—A hearing here on Thursday on the SBREFA process and how small business input into the CFPB can be improved will have the close attention of both credit union trade groups.
As part of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), certain federal agencies—one being the CFPB—must hold panel meetings regarding the impact of regulations on small business.
Thursday’s hearing by the Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Government Oversight Committee is titled: Improving Small Business Input on Federal Regulations: Ideas for Congress and a New Administration.
“So many credit unions throughout the past few years have participated in this SBREFA process and often they have been concerned that (CFPB) final rules have not expressed the views they have brought forward in SBREFA regarding the impact of a rule on small business,” said Leah Dempsey, CUNA’s senior director of advocacy and counsel.
Dempsey said CUNA plans to send a letter today to the committee outlining its concerns with the SBREFA process and will highlight ways in which the CFPB should improve the process and improve how the CFPB considers the feedback they receive during a SBREFA meeting.
“Initially we will outline concerns that the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy highlighted in a letter they sent concerning the impact on small credit unions, and on other small financial service providers, from the CFPB’s small dollar payday lending rule,” Dempsey said. “The SBA office of advocacy pushed back very hard on the CFPB small dollar rule, expressed concern that the rule will impact consumers’ access to credit, and shared that the CFPB did not consider this feedback during SBREFA.”
NAFCU said it will be monitoring Thursday’s subcommittee hearing as well. The trade association will also follow the testimony Thursday of Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Treasury secretary, before the Senate Finance Committee.
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, was reported telling Fox Business in late November that he plans to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of government conservatorship and to restructure and privatize them. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has his own plans to wind down the government-sponsored enterprises within five years.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae reported net incomes of $2.3 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively, in the third quarter of 2016. The GSEs have been under the FHFA’s conservatorship since 2008. NAFCU said it continues to advocate for housing reform that guarantees access for credit unions to the secondary mortgage market, and fair prices based on loan quality rather than volume.