WASHINGTON – In an initiative that has had more lives than a Cheshire Cat, the proposal to increase the member business loan ceiling for credit unions was revived again yesterday with a proposal to add the measure to a jobs bill pending before the Senate.
The latest proposal would increase the current 12.25% of assets cap for MBLs to as much as 27.5% and would be added to the Small Business Lending Fund, which passed the House last week.
The increase in the MBL cap has been sought by credit unions ever since it was enacted in 1998 as part of HR 1151, the CU Membership Access Act, and has been in legislation at least five times in recent years.
The jobs bill would create a $30 billion fund for community banks, from which the federal government would invest capital into banks for the purpose of making business loans.
