WASHINGTON (12/9/15)--The U.S. House Financial Services Committee continues its markup today, a markup that includes two bills with strong CUNA support. Recorded votes for both the Data Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 2205) and the National Credit Union Administration Budget Transparency Act (H.R. 2287) will be held after all seven bills on the committee's agenda are marked up.

The markup started yesterday, but was delayed by a 10 a.m. committee hearing that ran long and by House floor votes held in the afternoon.  The morning hearing, titled "Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council," featured testimony by eight federal regulators, including NCUA Chair Debbie Matz (see related story "Matz testifies FSOC-NCUA relationship protects CUs, members").

H.R. 2287 would require the NCUA to hold hearings and accept comment on its annual budget. Debate on the bill started last night, and a vote is expected today.

H.R. 2205, introduced by Reps. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) and John Carney (D-Del.), would create a single data security standard for all entities that handle sensitive consumer information. The federal standard would be scalable to an entity’s size and would supersede the current regulatory patchwork of state standards. A vote on this bill also is expected today.

Data security legislation with more stringent security standards for merchants has long been a top advocacy priority for CUNA, and efforts to support such legislation only intensified after the Target data breach of 2013, which exposed millions of cards and cost credit unions at least $30 million.

CUNA issued an action alert this week to engage credit unions members in support of H.R. 2205, urging them to contact their legislators.