WASHINGTON (3/10/16)--The number of federal legislators calling for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to use its authority to protect credit unions hit nearly 330 as of Wednesday, with a final count likely to come by the end of the week. This effort has been fully led by credit unions.

The letter, composed by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), has garnered support from both sides of the aisle.

“With major rules already being implemented and new regulations on the horizon, our letter reminds the CFPB that Congress intentionally provided for regulatory flexibility to mitigate collateral damage on smaller financial institutions,” Schiff and Stivers noted in their call for signers.

The letter itself cites the section of the Dodd-Frank Act that states the CFPB has the authority to adapt regulations by allowing it to exempt “any class” of entity from its rulemaking.

The creation of the letter, and the widespread support it has garnered, represents a successful deployment of the “fierce, 360-degree advocacy” Credit Union National Association President/CEO Jim Nussle has touted, including recently at the recent CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference.

State leagues, credit union leagues and credit union members themselves have been successful in stressing the importance of credit union regulatory relief through grassroots efforts on the state and federal level.

Despite CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s assertion that he believes the bureau cannot exempt credit unions from certain rulemakings, the support from both parties show that members of Congress, many of whom were involved in creating Dodd-Frank, believe Cordray’s interpretation to be incorrect.