WASHINGTON – In an unusual pairing, the credit union lobby is working with the bankers to get their newly combined regulatory relief bill through Congress as the legislative calendar continues to wind down toward a conclusion.
“The enemy for us right now is time,” asserted CUNA President Dan Mica yesterday, saying there only are 28 days of legislating left for the Senate, which must now act on the regulatory relief bill passed Tuesday by the House.
The Senate Banking Committee first must schedule a hearing on the bill, then schedule a so-called mark-up, where the bill would be voted, then send the bill for a vote by the full Senate – which is mired in negotiations on much weightier issues, such as the mortgage rescue package and the budget.
Mica conceded the House action – joining the CU Regulatory Relief Act with the banks’ reg relief bill – has forced the two traditional rivals to work together for a common goal. Both CUNA and the American Bankers Association have sent separate letters to Senate leaders urging action on the bill, and the competing lobby groups are working together through informal channels to get the bill enacted, said Mica.
The CUNA leader said the credit union lobby will continue to work to get their two main priorities that were stripped from the relief bill – enactment of a risk based capital system and an increase in business loan limits – but will be thankful even if Congress passes the bill without the provisions because the other provisions provide substantial relief for credit unions.
The bill was modeled after the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, minus the two main provisions, making it “CURIA-Lite” in some quarters.
The bill passed by the House, which is known as the CU, Bank and Thrift Regulatory Improvements Act, would: allow credit unions that convert to community charters to retain their select groups; increase the amount a credit union can invest in a CUSO; authorize NCUA to allow longer maturities on certain loans, such as student loans; and, give NCUA more flexibility in setting the annual interest rate cap.
It would: allow NCUA, rather than Congress, to determine allowable investments for credit unions; ease the way for credit unions to participate in the Small Business Administration’s Section 504 guaranteed loan program; and, allow all credit unions to make payday loans to non-members within their fields of membership.
The bill also would extend the powers to expand into underserved markets to community charters, but would tighten the definition of underserved areas to make them much smaller.
But the bill gives at least as much, perhaps more, to thrifts, by doubling their limits on small business loans and raising their limits on commercial loans, commercial real estate loans and auto loans. It would allow banks and thrifts to pay interest on business checking accounts, something credit unions already do.
