The League directly crafted the language of H.R. 7003, the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act. The bill is authored by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). This legislation allows federally chartered credit unions to serve banking deserts in underserved and low-income communities regardless of charter type. It expands the definition of an underserved region to include any area that’s more than 10 miles from the nearest financial institution branch, and the bill also allows all credit unions unlimited business lending authority within these communities. Once H.R. 7003 passed the House of Representatives, the League worked with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) to introduce the Senate version. Advancing this bill in the Senate is now the League’s top priority.

The League secured a letter from Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) requesting inclusion of a one-year extension of Central Liquidity Facility (CLF) borrowing authority in any potential year-end legislative package (originally in the pandemic-era CARES Act of 2020). Such action would provide another year of emergency liquidity through the CLF, administered by the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA). Senator Padilla’s important letter was addressed to chairs of our nation’s House of Representatives and Senate banking committees and specifically targeted member-agent authority, which would allow corporate credit unions to act as CLF agents.

The Overdraft Protection Act, which would have created a regulatory framework around overdraft protection products, was pulled from consideration during the bill mark-up process in the House Financial Services Committee. It eventually passed with the notion that consensus was lacking to advance any further. The League advocated heavily with members of Congress for an end-result that would not impact credit unions.

The League opposed and defeated House of Representatives legislation that would have given the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) regulatory authority over third-party credit union vendors. We are engaged on this issue and will be working to defeat it as the lame-duck congressional session commences.

The House of Representatives passed the Credit Union Board Modernization Act, a bill providing parity with state-chartered credit unions by allowing federally chartered credit unions to remove the monthly board meeting requirement and move to one per quarter (and no fewer than six per year). In total, 30 of 53 California members of the House co-sponsored this bill, as well as all four House representatives from Nevada. In the Senate, the bill has the support of four senators (two from California and two in Nevada) and continues gaining bipartisan support. This bill also exempts federally chartered de-novo credit unions in their first five years of operations, as well as federal credit unions with a low CAMELS score (Capital Adequacy / Asset Quality / Management / Earnings / Liquidity / Asset-Liability Management / Sensitivity to Market Risk).

The Credit Union Governance Modernization Act, an important piece of legislation addressing member expulsions, was included in the massive federal omnibus budget package in early 2022. This victory gave federal credit unions a streamlined process for removing dangerous members and will keep credit union members and employees safe by creating a framework for federal credit unions to swiftly remove a member for cause.

We are FULLY ENGAGED on your behalf:

The League has been playing steady defense against any harmful provision from potential credit card interchange fee legislation. With credit unions’ help through our Connect for the Cause grassroots platform, Senate lawmakers have been asked to not let the Credit Card Competition Act be attached to any “must pass” bill. This credit card interchange legislation would shift the interchange cost from big-box retailers to consumers by allowing merchants to route payments through an unaffiliated network, bypassing established secure payment networks at the expense of consumers. While there have been several defeats of attaching this legislation to any package, defeating this measure this session and going forward will remain a top priority.

The League doubled-down its efforts toward Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)-certification cure period efforts, sending our nation’s House of Representatives and Senate banking committees an aggressive letter requesting intervention with the CDFI Fund and the U.S. Treasury Department for credit unions facing the end of the CDFI-certification cure period (effective Sept. 30, 2022). While the CDFI stated that credit unions with pending submissions or cure period requirements are considered certified until the fund provides official notification of change or termination of status, CDFI credit unions have reported significant challenges in the application process as the fund paused its acceptance of new applications for six months starting Oct. 1, 2022.

We continue advocating for: the Expanding Access to Lending Options Act (increasing maturity limits for federal credit unions on non-primary residential mortgage loans); the Member Business Loan Expansion Act (unlimited authority for member business lending in underserved areas); and the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (data security and consumer privacy).