With Hurricane Florence looming over the East Coast, the week ahead is uncertain for Capitol Hill if the hurricane sends everyone home. But, for now, the week's agenda remains in session.
One of the week’s biggest events for credit unions will be the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions’ annual Congressional Caucus, which runs from Tuesday evening through Friday afternoon, and will include remarks from a host of legislators, government officials and other notables. U.S. Sens. Rand Paul (D-KY), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Jon Tester (D-MT) are scheduled to speak, along with Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Ed Royce (R-CA), among others. Several high-profile keynote speakers are also on the docket, including Major Garrett, chief White House correspondent for CBS News, and legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, speaking the day after his new book about the Trump White House is scheduled to be published.
As Credit Union Journal reported, NAFCU made news last week by
Coming soon: Tax 2.0?
The House and Senate have a variety of hearings this week, including a Senate Banking Committee hearing related to implementation of S. 2155, the reg relief bill signed into law earlier this year. Also of note is a Thursday hearing from the House Ways and Means Committee to mark-up “Tax 2.0,” a tax reform bill following up on previous tax legislation President Trump has already signed into law. While Joseph said credit unions aren’t expected to be a part of the process on Tax 2.0 – largely, he said, because credit unions and CU trade groups have already emphasized to legislators the importance of preserving the movement’s tax status – one CUNA staffer said the bill could still be important for CUs.
Speaking late last week in San Antonio during the Cornerstone Credit Union League’s annual leadership conference, CUNA’s Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan noted that a tax corrections bill could include a handful of technical changes relevant to credit unions, including an unintended excise provision in the previous bill. He told the crowd in Texas CUNA is “seeking to get that addressed and meeting with the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees.”
Out with the old, in with the new
The National Credit Union Administration this week also begins the process of sifting through final comment letters on its latest risk-based capital proposal, after the comment period ended Friday. A host of credit unions, trade groups and others have weighed in on the rule and NCUA’s proposal to delay implementation until 2020, compared with trade groups pushing Congress to delay it until 2021. NAFCU in its comment letter said it believes “further changes to the capital rule are warranted beyond what the NCUA has proposed in its current rulemaking,” wrote President and CEO Dan Berger. “Relative to the current rulemaking, NAFCU supports the one-year delay at a minimum, but strongly believes that a two-year delay would better afford credit unions the time they need to make any adjustments and preparations to come into compliance.”
For its part, CUNA told NCUA the rule “places significant unnecessary burdens on credit unions and needlessly coerces credit union asset allocations—all at a significant cost to credit union members. Should the agency choose to forego common-sense restraint and pursue the RBC rule as re-proposed, CUNA urges meaningful change.”
ICYMI: New advisory board
The week also kicks off with a new Credit Union Advisory Council at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, after acting Director Mick Mulvaney on Friday signed a new charter that reduced the number of members on the bureau’s advisory councils. The CU panel has seven members from different states, and five of the states represented went for President Trump in 2016.
The new members include:
- Arlene Babwah, vice president risk management, Coastal FCU, Raleigh, N.C.
- Sean Cahill, president/CEO, Southwest 66 CU, Odessa, Texas
- Teresa Halleck Campbell, president/CEO, San Diego County CU, San Diego, Calif.
- Christopher Court, vice president, accounting and operations, Service 1st FCU, Danville, Pa.
- James Hunsanger, chief risk officer, Michigan State University FCU, East Lansing, Mich.
- Bryan Price, president/CEO, Indiana University CU, Bloomington, Ind.
- Eric Schmidt, president/CEO, WestStar CU, Las Vegas
