The U.S. Senate voted in March in favor of legislation that will help strengthen communities throughout Pennsylvania. This bill is expected to be voted on in the House this week. On behalf of Pennsylvania’s credit unions and their members we urge our representatives to vote in favor of it.
S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, is bipartisan, common-sense regulatory reform legislation that will benefit Main Street financial institutions like credit unions and small community banks. In Pennsylvania, today’s regulatory burdens cost credit unions a total of $224.4 million or $119 per member household each year. Critics of the bill say it will help Wall Street, but in reality big banks will see little to no benefit. This targeted legislation will loosen some of the burdensome regulations that negatively impact credit unions’ ability to fully serve members and provide growth engines in local economies.
This reform package will make the process of getting mortgage loans from credit unions easier and more direct for consumers. It will adjust thresholds to ensure lending regulations reign in Wall Street banks without overburdening credit unions and small banks. It will change how credit unions designate certain apartment loans, freeing up capital for additional small business lending, and it will provide important safeguards against elder abuse, giving greater protections to some of the most vulnerable consumers of financial services. It is estimated that 65 percent of Pennsylvania’s credit unions will directly benefit from S. 2155.
On behalf of Pennsylvania’s 392 credit unions and 4 million credit union members, we ask all of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to vote in favor of S. 2155 this week.
