CUNA will be engaged with Congressional hearings in both chambers this week, as well as several mark ups of appropriations and other legislation this week. Both the House and Senate are in session.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to begin marking up its Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill Tuesday. The bill passed the FSGG subcommittee last week, and it contains funding for the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund ($300 million for FY2020, a $50 million increase from last year) and NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund ($2 million).

The bill’s report was released Monday and it contains language that:

• Calls on federal financial regulators to study the impact of the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard;
• Directs NCUA to issue a report on its efforts to support and advance community development credit unions in low-income communities;
• Encourages the Treasury to work with the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to develop materials to serve at-risk groups;
• Urges Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to work with regulators and financial institutions on innovative approaches to detecting and combating money laundering and terrorist financing;
• Dedicates $10 million to a Small Dollar Loan Program to encourage Community Development Financial Institutions to address the issue of predatory lending in their communities and provide an alternative to payday lenders.

It also contains language rejecting the administration’s budget proposal request to place the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the appropriations process.

Other hearings CUNA is engaged with this week includes:

• Tuesday, 10 a.m. (ET): Senate Banking Committee hearing, “Data Brokers and the Impact on Financial Data Privacy, Credit, Insurance, Employment and Housing;”
• Tuesday, 2 p.m. (ET): House Financial Services Committee markup of legislation;
• Wednesday, 10 a.m. (ET): House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (H.R. 2500); and
• Wednesday, 10 a.m. (ET): Senate Commerce Committee hearing, “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.