WASHINGTON—Although the House has just passed five regulatory relief bills supported by credit unions, there remain other pieces of legislation that the credit union trade groups want to see get some attention.
Ryan Donovan, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer, said that among the bills it is tracking are H.R. 299, the Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act; legislation that would permit privately insured credit unions to join the Federal Home Loan Bank; and H.R. 601, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act, which would change the law so that financial institutions don’t have to send an annual privacy notice if there has been no change to their privacy policies.
CUNA’s Ryan Donovan said he expects that later this week the House will consider H.R. 685, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2015, which amends the Truth in Lending Act to improve the definitions provided for points and fees in connection with a mortgage transaction.
The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday will hold two hearings—a subcommittee hearing on oversight efforts to reform the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and a subcommittee hearing that will examine the regulatory burden of non-depository financial institutions.
NAFCU Stresses Tax Exemption, Mortgage Choice Act
Meanwhile, as Congress reconvenes, NAFCU is making Washington aware of the importance of the CU tax exemption to the performance of the U.S. economy, urging passage of the Mortgage Choice Act and is also expressing support for effective sharing of cybersecurity information.
Those are three key items the trade group is addressing as efforts on Capitol Hill begin again this week following a two-week recession.
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee’s Business Income Tax Working Group Co-Chairs John Thune and Ben Cardin, stressing the importance of the credit union tax exemption to consumers, job creation, and the American economy. Members of the Committee on Finance were copied.
Berger notes in the letter that credit unions, as member-owned cooperatives, “are proud of their track record in serving Main Street throughout the financial crisis. While meeting the needs of over 100 million members, credit unions also provide an important source of capital to our nation’s small businesses,” Berger wrote.
Berger referred to an independent study released by NAFCU in 2014 that showed the cumulative benefit credit unions provide the greater economy totals over $17 billion a year. The study also showed that eliminating the credit union tax exemption would result in the loss of 150,000 jobs a year, a shrinking of the GDP and a net loss of revenue to the federal government. A copy of the study was enclosed with the letter.
“Credit unions help facilitate economic growth through lower loan rates, higher interest on deposits, and lower fees…Because this issue strikes at the very core of how credit unions have operated since their inception, protecting the credit union tax exemption is the chief priority of NAFCU,” Berger said in the letter.
Separately, the trade association sent a joint comment letter, along with other financial trade associations, including CUNA, to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in strong support of S. 754, the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015,” or CISA.
Joint Letter 1.0
In the letter, the groups wrote: “The financial services industry is dedicated to improving our capacity to protect customers and their sensitive information but as it stands today, our laws do not do enough to foster information sharing and establish clear lines of communication with the various government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. CISA will strengthen the nation’s ability to defend against cyber-attacks and better protect all Americans by encouraging the business community and the government to quickly and effectively share critical information about these threats while ensuring privacy.”
Sixteen groups signed the letter including the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Electronic Transactions Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association.
Joint Letter 2.0
Also, in a joint coalition letter NAFCU and CUNA signed onto, the groups urged the House to pass H.R. 685, the “Mortgage Choice Act.” The House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 685 by a 43-12 vote on March 26.
The bipartisan legislation makes two adjustments to the Truth in Lending Act’s definition of “points and fees” to ensure greater consumer choice in mortgage and settlement services under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage rule.
“By clarifying the QM rule’s definition of points and fees, H.R. 685 will enhance competition in the mortgage and title insurance markets and will ensure that consumers have greater access to mortgage credit and will be able to choose the lenders and title providers best suited for their individual needs,” the groups wrote.
Ten groups signed the letter, including: the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of REALTORS.
Other hearings and bills NAFCU said it is monitoring for any developments affecting credit unions:
- House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on H.R. 9, the “Innovation Act,” targeting abusive patent troll activity. The bill, introduced by committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, (R-VA), would require plaintiffs in a patent dispute to disclose the owner of a patent before suing; this is aimed at stopping patent trolls from hiding behind shell companies. It would also require courts to decide if a patent is valid early in the proceedings to prevent cases dragging out unnecessarily. NAFCU said it supports patent reform that addresses the problems credit unions face involving baseless litigation associated with low-quality patents.
- On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing on the “Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act” on Thursday, which is a draft bill to address demand letters. On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will commence a full-committee mark-up of data security legislation that will continue on Wednesday.
- On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the regulatory burdens to obtaining mortgage credit.