WASHINGTON—Legislation in which credit unions have a strong interest continues to advance in Congress.

During mark-up this week, the House Financial Services Committee moved forward on three bills supported by credit unions. The legislation involves, respectively, mortgage trigger leads, digital assets, and mentorship for small financial institutions.

Specifically, the bills include:

Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 2808)

The legislation seeks to curtail abuse of mortgage trigger leads while narrowly preserving them for legitimate, transparent, and accountable uses. The bill passed 46-0.

Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act (H.R. 3633)

The CLARITY Act, a companion bill to the GENIUS Act in the Seante, would create a regulatory framework for digital assets, and ensure stablecoins cannot be treated as a credit union or bank deposit. America’s Credit Unions noted it also clarifies credit unions that offer custody or safekeeping services for digital assets are not required to hold assets held in custody as liabilities on their balance sheet. 

It passed 32-19; and  

Advancing the Mentor-Protégé Program for Small Financial Institutions Act (H.R. 3709)

The bill would codify the Treasury’s mentorship program pairing small and rural financial institutions with larger ones. The bill passed 50-1.

Defense Council Remains Active

Meanwhile, the Defense Credit Union Council remains active in both houses of Congress with outreach related to a number of legislative issues.

Those issues include:

Being Part of Conversation

The DCUC sent letters to both the House Agriculture and Ways & Means Committees to “make sure credit unions and their members, military families, rural communities, and veteran-owned businesses, are part of the national economic conversation.”

The Issues

DCUC said the issues it highlighted and arguments made include:

• Outdated lending caps are hurting rural and veteran entrepreneurs. DCUC is pushing for reforms, sharing our support of the Veterans Member Business Loan Act.
• Field of membership restrictions are interfering with credit unions ability to reach underserved areas where they already have a footprint.
• USDA loan access and pilot programs could really move the needle for rural military communities.

Ways & Means

With Ways & Means, DCUC said it is working to:

• Defend credit unions’ tax-exempt status (critical for the millions of credit union members served, including military families).
• Push for support of full CDFI funding, which “helps many of our member credit unions expand affordable lending to communities in need.”
• Encourage more Treasury-DoD collaboration on military financial literacy—“something DCUC and its defense credit unions are already leading across the country.”

TRAPS Act Support

DCUC also sent a letter in support of the newly introduced TRAPS Act, which it called “a major step to fight payment fraud. This is a big deal for the military community, where scams are on the rise.”

“DCUC applauds Senators Crapo, Warner, Moran, and Warnock for their leadership on the bipartisan TRAPS Act. As the voice for defense credit unions serving our nation’s military and veterans, we were proud to work with our partners in the lead-up to this legislation’s introduction,” DCUC President and CEO Tony Hernandez said in a statement. “Payment scams targeting military families are on the rise, and credit unions are often the first line of defense. This bill gives credit unions the tools they need to detect, stop, and report fraudulent transactions before the damage is done—empowering financial institutions to pause suspect payments and better coordinate with law enforcement. 

“DCUC strongly supports the TRAPS Act and looks forward to working with Congress to advance this commonsense legislation that protects consumers, especially those who serve and sacrifice for our country.”