Week ahead: Shutdown, NCUA expenses and ADA lawsuits

The partial government shutdown, which is the longest in U.S. history, has been going on for a month now.

In an attempt to alleviate the situation, more credit unions are rolling out relief offerings for members. Industry trade groups are lobbying politicians to end the shutdown as the closure presents credit risks, both on the consumer and commercial side, for financial institutions.

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Members of Congress are continuing efforts to end the shutdown so roughly 800,000 federal workers can start receiving pay. The House Ways and Means Committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss the impact that the shutdown poses to the American taxpayer and the effects on the Internal Revenue Service. Notably, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined an invitation to testify and instead offered to send staffers who knew more about his department’s plans for the upcoming tax season.

Though President Trump refuses to budge from his demand for more than $5 billion to build a wall at the southern border, he did sign legislation that guarantees furloughed workers receive their missed pay once the government reopens.

A side eye to the NCUA

The National Credit Union Administration received some negative press over the weekend after a Washington Post investigation alleged that Chairman J. Mark McWatters engaged in questionable spending on the agency’s dime, such as buying a glass of single-malt whisky for $45 and taking an UberBlack that totaled $250. The NCUA remains firm that the McWatters did nothing wrong.

The agency is continuing with business as usual. It is looking into amending regulations concerning fidelity bonds. NCUA is seeking to require that all bond forms receive its approval every 10 years. The agency is also hoping to “strengthen a board of directors’ oversight of a credit union’s fidelity bond coverage.”

In other news

The Financial Accounting Standards Board will meet tomorrow to discuss issues pertaining to the current expected credit losses, or CECL, standards. The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions will attend the meeting.

The Credit Union National Association updated its Military Lending Act credit card spreadsheet to reflect fourth quarter data from 2018.

CUNA will also file amicus briefs with the Michigan Credit Union League in defense of two credit unions facing lawsuits that allege they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Several credit unions have been sued by plaintiffs claiming their websites don’t meet the standards for the ADA.

CUNA has taken similar steps before, including filing a brief in a case against the $90 million-asset Department of Labor Federal Credit Union. That case was dismissed recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.