The House Financial Services Committee will mark up CUNA and League-supported legislation starting Tuesday, May 17. The bill, the Expanding Financial Access to Underserved Communities Act (H.R. 7003), was introduced in March by Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

“This legislation is a major step toward increasing financial inclusion by simply allowing credit unions to serve communities that have been left behind by the big banks,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We thank the House Financial Services Committee and Chairwoman Waters for taking the bill up.”

The Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act would:

• Allow all federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their field of membership
• Exempt business loans made by credit unions in underserved areas from the credit union member business lending cap.
• Expand the definition of an underserved area to include New Markets Tax Credit areas and any area that is more than ten miles from the nearest financial institution branch.