WASHINGTON The long-sought bills to lift the limit on member business loans and to allow credit unions to raise supplementary capital are expected to be introduced again in the House as soon as this week.
Both bills have been introduced in Congress in one form or another for over a decade but have been defeated, mostly because of opposition from the banking lobby.
CUNA lobbyists said this morning they have begun discussions in the Senate, where the MBL bill stalled again last Congress, and hope to be able to break the logjam this time. The bill would lift the current limit of 12.25% of assets for MBLs to 27.5%. Credit unions have been lobbying to increase the limit since it was created at the behest of the bankers as part of HR 1151, the 1998 CU Membership Access Act.
