Credit unions have profound interest in preserving the Department of Defense’s (DoD) discretionary authority to allow credit unions to use land and space on military bases at a nominal rate, CUNA and other organizations wrote to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders Thursday. The Senate is expected to consider the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the coming days.

CUNA, Leagues, and credit unions have strongly pushed back against any expansion to banks of the current arrangement between credit unions and the DOD. The House passed its version of the NDAA in September without the troublesome language.

“Thank you for not including this language in the House-passed version of NDAA or in the Senate Armed Services Committee mark-up,” the letter reads. “We ask that it remains out of the FY2022 NDAA and you continue to reject attempts at its inclusion on the Senate floor. Further, we ask that the final conference report reflect the Senate language that is silent on this specific issue.”

The letter supports the inclusion of several priorities in the Senate NDAA, including:

• The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would provide protections to financial institutions that serve legal cannabis-based businesses.
• Language authorizing remote online notarization that would also crate national standards and protections for its use.

The House-passed NDAA contains both the SAFE Banking Act and remote notary language.

The organizations also oppose two provisions included in the House-passed NDAA that would limit the credit reporting information available on servicemembers.

The Defense Credit Union Council and National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions also signed the letter.