WASHINGTON–Ahead of the House being sent home for the Summer by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government advanced has its FY26 bill with funding for the CDFI Fund.
The amount is below what credit unions have been seeking, but considerably more than the elimination of the funding that had been proposed by the Trump administration.
The subcommittee funds it at $276.6 million for FY26, which includes $3.4 million in funds for NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, according to America’s Credit Unions.
The subcommittee’s move clears the legislation for consideration by the full House Appropriations Committee.
As the CU Daily reported earlier, in a letter sent in advance of the markup, America’s Credit Unions called for Congress to appropriate funds at their FY25 levels of $324 million for the CDFI Fund and $4 million for the CDRLF.
Other Bills Getting Support
Four other bills that have the support of credit unions include:
- The Supervisory Modifications for Appropriate Risk-Based Testing (SMART) Act (H.R. 4437), which would provide well-managed, well-capitalized credit unions with regulatory relief through combined safety-and-soundness exams and consumer compliance exams, as well as allowing for limited-scope, off-site exams in alternate years, America’s Credit Unions said.
- The Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance Act (H.R. 4460), which would require federal financial regulators to state on the first page of guidance documents that the guidance does not have the force and effect of law and therefore does not establish any rights or obligations, according to America’s Credit Unions. The trade group’s CEO, Jim Nussle, encouraged the committee to “affirmatively provide a non-exhaustive list of examples of guidance” to ensure the legislation’s full intent can be realized.
- The Tailored Regulatory Updates for Supervisory Testing (TRUST) Act (H.R. 4478), which would raise the consolidated asset to $10 billion (up from the current $3 billion) for banks to qualify for an 18-month examination cycle. America’s Credit Unions noted NCUA possesses the authority for such extended examination cycles. If the bill is advanced, the hope is “Congress would use its oversight capacity to urge the NCUA to set its examination cycle thresholds equal to those of banks,” Nussle wrote.
- The American Access to Banking Act (H.R. 4544), which would promote forming de novo credit unions and other community banks by streamlining the federal application process.
