The passage of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) is a step forward on the path toward regulatory relief for credit unions and a strengthened economy, Alaska Credit Union League President Dan McCue wrote to several local papers recently.

“Years of deliberation, hearings, markups and floor votes in the House inspired and prompted the Senate to craft and ultimately pass S. 2155. As a result, it’s effectively a bicameral bill; the House deserves credit for laying the groundwork for S. 2155,” McCue wrote. “With the House formally green-lighting S. 2155 -- we are on the path to easing the regulatory burden on the lenders that power so much of America’s economy.”

McCue outlines how community financial institutions in Alaska and around the country were impacted by regulations put in place in the wake of the financial crisis, despite not contributing to it.

“In mid-2009, at the peak of the crisis, just 2% of credit union loans were delinquent. That’s less than one-fourth as many bad loans as the big banks had on their books,” he wrote. “Regulations are eating up 1 of every 6 dollars credit unions spend on operations each year--or $6.1 billion in total.”

McCue thanked Alaska’s congressional delegation for their support of S. 2155, the Senate for constructing and introducing the bill and the House for paving the way with years of deliberation, hearings and markups on regulatory relief.