WASHINGTON–As 2021 comes to a close, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer looked back on what he said were the legislative “accomplishments” of the year, while looking forward and saying 2022 will likely be a year of “great challenge.”
The legislative accomplishments of “CUNA/league advocacy” of the past year include, according to Ryan Donovan:
- The Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Authority suspended provisions of the preferred stock purchase agreement that would have limited the sale of second homes and high risk mortgages to the GSEs.
- Community Reinvestment Act legislation did not extend requirements to credit unions.
- Credit unions “successfully fought back” language initially included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that had been backed by banks and that would have given banks rent-free access to military bases equal to that of credit unions. Donovan noted CUs have won that battle over the last several years.
- Congress moved postal reform, but language that would have expanded the Postal Service’s ability to do more banking services was not included. (The USPS, however, has been testing in 2021 the offering of financial services at four locations.)
- Congress enacted repeal of the OCC’s True Lender Rule. Credit unions supported this Congressional Review Act provision which kept payday lenders from using bank charters to avoid usury ceilings, Donovan noted.
- The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case that the definition of auto-dialer was overly broad.
- Congress advanced the Credit Union Governance Act, which would make it easier for FCUs to expel disruptive members. “We’re hopeful next year this will be considered by the full House,” Donovan said.
- The FHFA reversed its adverse market fee imposed in 2020.
- NCUA provided relief both from PCA and asset-threshold triggers for CUs adversely impacted by COVID-19.
- Donovan said CUNA had expected that throughout the Summer and Fall that it would be “heavily involved in debate in Congress” over credit interchange, with Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) expected to introduce such a proposal. But Donovan said the CUNA/league efforts contributed to such legislation not being introduced.
- Preserved the federal CU tax status. “Obviously, we want to continue to bat 1.000 on this and it’s something we are actively engaged in year after year,” Donovan said. “But in a year in which Congress enacted $3 trillion in new spending there wasn’t a whisper among policymakers that credit unions should be taxed to pay for that legislation. That’s a credit to the decades of work credit unions have done and our advocacy apparatus.”
- Credit unions and other financial services organizations were successful in keeping a proposal that would have required credit unions, banks and others to report the gross inflows/outflows in deposit accounts to the IRS.
A Lot to Celebrate, But…
“There is a lot to celebrate, a lot to be appreciative of as we round out 2021,” said Donovan. “2022 is going to be a year of great challenge from an advocacy perspective. This is a redistricting year and there are mid-term elections. The legislative window will be narrow. We also know that in the second year of a president’s term the regulatory agencies, particularly those with which credit unions interact, have their directors in place. They are going to be very active in the new year, in all likelihood putting out proposals that as we look at them will certainly challenge credit unions’ ability to advance members’ well-being. The good news is the CUNA/league advocacy apparatus is well positioned.”