Credit unions active as S. 2155 moves in the House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

CONTACT: Lauren Williams – CUNA Communications; (202) 626-7642; lwilliams@cuna.coop            

Washington, DC (May 21, 2018) – Today, the House Rules Committee will meet on S. 2155, the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act at 5 p.m. (ET). This clears the way for the bill to likely be considered this week, as early as Tuesday.  

Credit Union National Association is calling on America's 110 million credit union members to contact their representatives in a final grassroots push to get the bill passed in the House.  

“We’re entering the home stretch for this bill, and we’ve gotten this far because credit union leaders from around the country have told their members of Congress how this bill will help them serve their members better,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We are urging credit union members to give a final push and get this thing across the finish line. This bill is vital to the American consumer and needs to be signed into law to remove barriers keeping hard-working Americans from accessing safe products and services."   

Credit unions have generated over 60,000 messages to Congress, urging their support of S. 2155 through the Campaign for Common-Sense Regulation, and continues to engage through the legislative process. This landmark bill marks the first rewrite to the Dodd-Frank Act, one of the biggest pieces of legislation under the Obama administration.  

CUNA wrote to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Friday, commending the bipartisan efforts of Congress to create and pass S. 2155 and pledging to work with Congress on additional regulatory relief legislation. 

"S.2155 is the result of months of deliberate bipartisan negotiations. The legislation includes several provisions supported by Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate," the letter reads. "And it enjoys the support of America’s credit unions and small banks. This is true, targeted regulatory reform that will help Americans on Main Street, and it is the type of legislation that Congress should be proud to enact." 

The Senate passed the bill in March with a bipartisan 67-31 vote and would go to President Donald Trump for his signature if passed by the House.

Specific regulatory relief provisions in S. 2155 would: 

• Establish a safe harbor from certain requirements for a loan to be considered a Qualified Mortgage; 
• Rescind the additional data points required under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act for insured credit unions that originate fewer than 500 closed-end and/or 500 open-end lines of credit; 
• Reclassify one-to-four unit, non-owner occupied residential loans as real estate loans, so the loan would not count against the member business lending cap; 
• Clarify that that the same consumer protections in place with respect to mortgage lending are nonexistent for Property Assessed Clean Energy loans; 

• Remove the three-day wait period required for the combined TRID mortgage disclosure if a creditor extends to a consumer a second offer of credit with a lower annual percentage rate; 
• Require NCUA to make publicly available a draft of their proposed budget, hold a hearing with public notice during which this draft would be discussed and solicit and consider public comment about the draft budget; 
• Provide a safe harbor for properly trained financial employees who report alleged elder financial abuse; and 
• Require the U.S. Department of Treasury to conduct a study on the risks that cyber threats may pose to financial institutions. 

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About CUNA   
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 110 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.