WASHINGTON–With both the House and Senate back in session this week, the national attention will be on whether Congress can pass a resolution to fund the federal government beyond midnight on Friday.
But the credit union trade associations will be watching progress on several bills headed to mark-up, especially HR 1264, the Community Financial Institutions Exemption Act, which amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to exempt community financial institutions from all rules and regulations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A "community financial institution" is an insured depository institution or credit union with less than $50 billion in consolidated assets, which applies to all credit unions with the exception of Navy Federal. Under specified circumstances, and with the written agreement of the Federal Reserve Board and other specified federal banking agencies, the CFPB may revoke such an exemption with respect to a certain rule or regulation and a specific class of institutions.
“Again, it’s another example of a piece of legislation you would like to think is unnecessary, but as the last few years have proven, is necessary,” said CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan.
Credit unions are also watching HR 2954, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act, which would exempt lenders that make fewer than 1,000 closed-end loans or 2,000 open-end lines of credit in each of the previous two years.
It is expected that today as many as 18 bills will be under consideration in the House.
The House Small Business Committee today will hold a hearing on SBA 7(a) loans, while the Senate Banking Committee will be holding a hearing on Combatting Money Laundering and Other Forms of Illicit Finance.
In the lead-up to the votes, CUNA chief political officer, Richard Gose, said the association’s Campaign for Common Sense Regulation has been pushing hard in several forms of media for passage of the bills. Gose said more than 40 million social media impressions were had as part of the campaign. There have also been op-ed placements in traditional media, he said.