CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle reiterated his call for credit union action to support the Senate’s bipartisan regulatory relief bill, S. 2155, Monday as the Senate prepares to move forward this week. Stakeholders can use CUNA’s Campaign for Common-Sense Regulations website to contact their Senators and use CUNA’s Member Activation Program to activate their members to contact their Senators as well. 

“CUNA, leagues and credit unions have been advocating for common-sense regulation for over a year now and this is the week where we get a crucial vote in the Senate. Our voices helped get this bill to the floor, and now it's time for Congress to fight for the 110 million Americans who depend on credit unions,” Nussle said. “S.2155 is bipartisan legislation that will protect seniors from elder abuse, make mortgage processing easier and quicker, increase affordable rental housing in our communities and help credit unions provide better service to their members, common-sense solutions that will benefit consumers.”

Nussle added that it is essential for stakeholders to contact Senators in support of the bill, as grassroots opposition efforts have resulted in more than 450,000 actions taken against the bill.

S. 2155 contains a credit union-specific provision to reclassify certain types of real estate loans, freeing up to as much as $4 billion in capital that credit unions could lend to business members.

It also offers mortgage relief by treating loans held in portfolios by certain lenders as Qualified Mortgages, while raising Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting thresholds. It also allows more efficient disclosures of available discounts from lenders to potential homebuyers.

The Senate is expected to vote to invoke closure Tuesday, and negotiators will then move to a potential time agreement to shorten the required 30 hours of debate.