CUNA reg reform efforts seek to capitalize on populist movements

First Bernie Sanders, then Donald Trump and now credit unions.

The Credit Union National Association – in concert with state leagues – is looking to capitalize on the success of recent populist grassroots political movements in its efforts to lobby Congress and regulators to create a business environment more favorable to credit unions.

According to Ryan Donovan, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer, the Campaign for Common-Sense Regulation, isn’t about passing specific bills or changing any regulation in particular, but changing the operating environment in which CUs operate. The campaign’s four pillars, he explained during a recent webinar on the topic, are:

• Reducing the regulatory burden
• Expanding credit union powers
• Enhancing payments security and
• Preserving the credit union tax status.

“The focus going into the new Congress…is squarely on reducing the regulatory burden,” Donovan said.
That will be helped by what CUNA CEO Jim Nussle called “a credit union-friendly majority” in Congress, which has indicated an interest in pursuing President-elect Donald Trump’s regulatory reform agenda. Nussle and Donovan conceded that the trade association won’t solely be able to rely on the Republican majority, however, and expects to rely on strong support from both sides of the aisle. Additionally, Democrats are already considered vulnerable in the 2018 midterm elections, so CUNA hopes to be able to rely on the support of moderate Dems on the Senate Banking Committee, including Senators John Tester (MT), Heidi Heitcamp (N.D.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Joe Donnelly (IN).

CUNA – as well as the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions – has already indicated that it plans to target the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of its push for reg reform, and Donovan specifically pointed to the bureau’s structure, which has already come under fire. CUNA supports:

• Changing the CFPB’s leadership from a one-person directorship to a five-person board
• Shifting funding so that the bureau is included in the appropriations process
• Increasing the supervisory threshold from $10 billion to $50 billion and
• Other corrective measures to fix existing rules.

While financial reform is on the agenda, said Donovan, it’s not one of the new administration’s top three priorities, so CUs will have to deploy their grassroots advocates – including CU staff and members – in order to get the job done. The task, he said, is to divorce credit union issues from large bank issues and change how discussions around the CFPB are framed.