FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Vicki Christner – CUNA Communications; 202-329-9950; vchristner@cuna.coop

Washington, DC (September 14, 2017) – The House voted Thursday in favor of H.R. 3354, an appropriations bill that contains several major victories for credit unions. The bill keeps NCUA out of the appropriations process, a provision the CUNA/League system advocated heavily for on Capitol Hill, and contains significant regulatory relief, including changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). 

“The many regulatory relief provisions in this bill, as well as the removal of language placing NCUA under appropriations, is a direct result of CUNA, the leagues, credit unions and members strongly advocating on behalf of 110 million credit union members,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “These last few days are a blueprint to future advocacy work for the credit union industry, and we urge all stakeholders to help us keep up the momentum as the bill moves to the Senate.”

Of particular note is the successful removal of language that would have placed NCUA under the appropriations process. The language was included in the bill originally, but an amendment from Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) was successfully added Thursday by voice vote. 

CUNA engaged heavily with leagues, credit unions and members to advocate for the adoption of the bipartisan Amodei-Aguilar amendment, and issued an action alert through its Grassroots Action Center for stakeholders to reach out to their legislators.  

CUNA-backed changes to the CFPB in the bill include: 

• Removes the CFPB’s unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices authority; 
• Places the CFPB under the appropriations process; 
• Repeals the CFPB’s authority to write rules for arbitration; 
• Repeals the CFPB’s Small Business Data Collection program; 

The bill also contains CUNA-supported provisions to provide community financial institution mortgage relief, and a safe harbor for certain loans held in portfolio.  

The bill also cuts the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund by $58 million from FY17 levels. However, this still leaves it funded at pre-recession levels.  

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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.