WASHINGTON — Heading into the Memorial Day recess, Congress is racing to address numerous issues, including legislation that affects credit unions in a variety of ways, as well as bills aimed at providing funds for federal agencies that continue to lack them.
Both America’s Credit Unions and the Defense Credit Union Council are keeping an eye on numerous developments this week.
The House will be looking to pass its amended ROAD to Housing in the 21st Century Act so that it can be sent back to the Senate.
As Jason Stverak, chief advocacy officer with the Defense Credit Union Council, noted, the two houses of Congress are not in agreement on the legislation, so there remain issues to be hammered out in conference committee.
Stverak said DCUC is “thankful” the House did add back into the bill language from the Credit Union Board Modernization Act.
“But again, we expressed our concern as we have on multiple occasions that the community bank sector seems to get section after section of significant regulatory relief and reforms, and credit unions maybe only get one or two items,” he said. “We’re encouraging them that as this process moves forward to take a look at adding into any final bill the CLF Enhancement Act compromise legislation pushed by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in the U.S. Senate and the Loan Maturity Act. We think that these are two significant items that will benefit the entire credit union industry and ensure at least some level of parity with the community bank sector.”
Reconciliation 2.0, 3.0…
The Senate is also going to be tackling the so-called Reconciliation 2.0 as it looks to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, with Stverak noting that portions of the Department of Homeland Security are still in “limbo.”
As DCUC noted, several Department of Homeland Security funding provisions, including those affecting TSA and other federal agencies, remain in flux following parliamentarian review. While procedural changes are still being finalized, DCUC expects the Senate Budget Committee will continue advancing the package in the coming weeks.
Behind Reconciliation 2.0 is Reconciliation 3.0, a budget bill Republicans would like to move before the midterm elections, Stverak said.
“We will be monitoring closely in terms of ensuring the credit union tax status is protected and there’s no other issues that will threaten credit unions that are advanced in that piece of legislation,” Stverak said. “We’ll also look further for any opportunities.”
‘Vote-a-Rama’ is Coming
Similarly, Brad Thaler, VP-legislative affairs with America’s Credit Unions, expects a “busy” week, including what’s known on the Hill as a “vote-a-rama” later this week as Congress looks to complete votes before heading into recess.
Which Bills Make It to the President?
Asked by the CU Daily during a media call which legislation has the greatest likelihood of making it to the president’s desk for signature, Thaler said the crypto market structure legislation has bipartisan support and has strong prospects for being passed during the summer.
“The housing package is also a very interesting development, as you have bipartisan bills in the House and the Senate and that’s really a bicameral fight between the two chambers,” Thaler said. “We think there’s going to be a lot of back and forth before they ultimately may decide on something. But whether that is this summer or ultimately later in the year, they will take what they can get, even in the lame-duck session. We think there’s a path forward for that.”
Two Hearings to Monitor This Week
Both credit union trade groups said they will be monitoring two hearings this week:
• The House Financial Services Committee hearing on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) modernization on Thursday. America’s Credit Unions and DCUC have advocated for updating BSA reporting thresholds — many have not been updated in decades, ACU noted — and other modernizations to ease regulatory burdens;
• The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection hearing on cybersecurity’s role in protecting communities.
