CUNA sent a letter on Wednesday to the House Committee on Financial Services in response to the hearing entitled, “CARES Act Oversight of Treasury and the Federal Reserve: Building a Resilient Economy.” 

The letter noted that aid from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act raised questions about credit unions’ net worth ratios, calling on Congress to grant NCUA flexibility to accommodate otherwise healthy credit unions that saw an influx of deposits. 

“The consequence of this inflexibility for credit union members is that their credit union is forced to put more resources in reserve which makes fewer resources available to credit union members as we emerge from the crisis. This hampers credit unions’ ability to improve their members’ financial well-being and advance the communities they serve.” 

CUNA also recommended Congress lift the member business loan (MBL) cap for one year following a national emergency, and encouraged Congress to expand credit unions’ field of membership.  

The letter also reemphasized credit union concerns with the proposed IRS reporting requirements that could still be included in the Senate’s work on the Build Back Better Act.   

“At any threshold – $600, $10,000, or some higher number – this proposal is fundamentally flawed because it expands the type of information financial institutions must report to the IRS from information related directly to a taxable event—like interest earned on deposits or mortgage interest paid—to information that is not directly related to taxable activity.”