WASHINGTON–For the first time since September both chambers of Congress will be in session this week with much on the agenda, including a hearing related to increasing the amount covered by deposit insurance.
Grabbing the spotlight at least this week and likely much longer will be the controversy surrounding the release of the Epstein file sand a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in the House, which would force the release of Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In the House there will also be votes on legislation related to cybersecurity and threats that involve credit unions, including HR 1736 – Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act, and HR 2659 – Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act
Hearing on Deposit Insurance
The House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing on the future of deposit insurance Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET, during which a proposal that would require the federal financial regulators, including NCUA, to perform an analysis on raising insurance coverage amounts and establish emergency transaction account guarantee programs, will be discussed.
As the CU Daily reported here, Hanscom Federal Credit Union President/CEO Peter Rice testified in September before a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee during a hearing titled, “Evaluating Perspectives on Deposit Insurance Reform,” and warned that implicit protections for the largest banks create “dangerous ripple effects” — driving deposits away from local financial institutions, starving small businesses of credit, and hurting the defense industry’s supply chain.
The House will also consider:
* HR 4305 – Small Business Lending Oversight and Data Modernization Act (data-collection + lending-program oversight)
* HR 5763, 5784, 5764, 5778, 5788 – various SBA modernization updates, some affecting capital access, loan guarantees, and entrepreneur financing.
Nominations Hearing in the Senate
The Senate, which will reconvene on Tuesday, will hold a hearing on Wednesday during which it will consider financial regulator nominations for the president of Ginnie Mae and the chair of the FDIC board.
