Legislative Updates

Call to action! Say 'no' to HR 5546

Interchange fees regulation

CUNA is once again calling on credit union professionals to contact their congressional representatives, this time to oppose H.R. 5546.

H.R. 5546 would impose unnecessary regulation over the card transaction interchange fee process by establishing a costly governmental tribunal that would be authorized to impose its decisions on a system that is more appropriately governed by the market. Government interference in this working market stands to harm all participants, including consumers, merchants and financial institutions.

On April 29, Dan Mica announced CUNA’s new policy regarding the regulation of interchange fees.  CUNA is working with the Electronics Payment Coalition (EPC) to oppose H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT).  This legislation, which would establish a three-member panel to regulate interchange fees, is being advanced by the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), a group of merchants and retailers. 

Supporters of this legislation assert that consumers would benefit from government interference, but there is no clear indication that this objective will be met. Government-imposed price controls on interchange fees are more likely to increase credit and debit cards costs that consumers bear.
The uncertainty surrounding this legislation makes it unlikely that consumers will see any benefit.

CUNA asks credit union professionals to both voice our opposition to this legislation and discourage additional Members of Congress from cosponsoring this bill.  To this end, we are asking you to urge Members of Congress NOT to cosponsor H.R. 5546.  Furthermore, they should ask Members to actively oppose H.R.5546.  We anticipate a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Conyers-Cannon bill on May 15, therefore, it is especially important to reach out to members of the House Judiciary Committee.

We encourage you to utilize CUNA’s CapWiz Grassroots Action Center, http://capwiz.com/cuna/home/ . 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Elizabeth Furey
Director of Grassroots Advocacy
Credit Union National Association
601 Pennsylvania Ave NW Suite 600 S. Bldg
Washington, D.C, 20004-2601
Phone: 202-508-6713 Fax: 202-638-7751
efurey@cuna.coop

Mica asks for thanks for Lieberman

CUNA President Dan Mica announced yesterday that Sen. Joe Lieberman has introduced a Senate version of CURIA, while a nearly identical bill is still pending in the House. Mica is asking credit union professionals to express gratitude to Lieberman for his initiative, noting “It is vital that Leagues and credit unions THANK SEN. LIEBERMAN IMMEDIATELY with e-mails to him and faxes to his office.”

CUNA has made responding to this call to action from Mica convenient and easy through the Cap Wiz tool on the CUNA Web site.

Go to the Cap Wiz page and select “Thank Sen. Lieberman.” You will be presented with some points to include in your personalized e-mail. Fill in the blanks, click on some buttons – and you will have thanked the senator from Connecticut! If you prefer to fax your letter, the fax number is (202) 224-9750.

Make New Mexico voices heard!

Senate version of CURIA introduced

WASHINGTON (5/2/08)--Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced a Senate version of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA, S. 2957) Thursday, putting the key credit union legislation a giant step forward in the legislative process.

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) lauded Lieberman’s action saying the senator has “demonstrated determination and conviction in his support for consumer-owned credit unions” by introducing his bill.

CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica said, “Through his action, consumers have the hope of more choices in services, as well as the promise of continued strength, for the credit unions that they own and direct.

“Our sincere thanks and gratitude to Sen. Lieberman. We look forward to working with him, and other senators, as this important legislation gains support and eventual passage in the Senate,” said Mica.

Click to view larger image U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), left, and CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica backstage before Lieberman addressed the March 6 closing closing general session of the 2008 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington. (Photo provided by Robert Knudsen)
It was at the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in March that Lieberman said he recognized the importance of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act to credit unions and pledged to be an original sponsor of a Senate version of H.R. 1537. The House bill currently sports the names of 149 members of the House as its official sponsors.

Among changes proposed by the bill, which is substantively identical to the House version, CURIA would:

* Clarify the 1998 Credit Union Membership Access Act to allow all credit unions, regardless of charter type, to serve those in underserved areas. The bill would also update the definition of an underserved area, incorporating definitions from the Community Development Financial Institutions Act and the New Markets Tax Credit;

* Increase the current cap on loans to members for business purposes (MBLs) from 12.25% to 20% of assets, allowing credit unions to assist more members start and expand small businesses and to promote economic growth. The bill would also exempt loans under $100,000 and those to nonprofit religious organizations from the MBL calculation;

* Establish additional consumer safeguards in the event of a credit union conversion to another form of financial institution; and

* Reform the National Credit Union Administration’s original prompt corrective action system to a risk-based approach more closely resembling the current Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. capital standard for banks. 

2008 New Mexico Legislature over, poses no threats to CUs

Juan E. Fernández Ceballos
CUANM Vice President, Governmental Affairs

The 2008 session of the New Mexico Legislature is over. I am glad to report that there was no legislation passed that will adversely affect your credit union’s ability to serve its members.

I want to bring to your attention to the fact that there will be a legislative interim committee formed to study financial institutions and predatory lending practices in New Mexico. This committee will report back to the Legislature, and most likely legislation will be introduced next year to address the committee’s findings. I met with the proponent of this committee and we will work together in the months ahead to ensure that credit unions’ voice and concerns are heard in that panel. I invite you to look over the summary included below, and keep in mind that our work merely begins as we gear up for an election year that will be of paramount importance to our movement in New Mexico

Session at a glance…
The year touted as the year of health care saw none of the health care bills going anywhere; in fact, virtually nothing in Gov. Bill Richardson’s agenda went anywhere (though he has called for a special session to deal with his health care proposal). As I have notified you during the past several weeks, there were various bills that had an impact on financial institutions. We closely monitored these bills to ensure credit unions were not negatively impacted. Again, none of these bills became law. Here’s a list of the bills that were under consideration that could have had some level of impact on credit unions:

HB 9 - Domestic Partnership Bill — This bill would have required all businesses in the state to extend the same benefits to domestic partners that they extend to married couples. This bill narrowly passed the House, but failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee as some Democrats joined Republicans to kill the bill.

HB 21 — This bill was intended to curb predatory mortgage lending. Even though the intentions of this bill were kindhearted, the bill was plagued with technical issues that would have caused unintended consequences in the mortgage lending industry. For instance, FHA and VA guaranteed mortgages risked being outlawed in the state had this bill passed in its original form. These issues coupled with the shortness of the session led the bill to be tabled indefinitely in its first committee.

HB 388 — In its first form, it would have required lenders (including credit unions) to disclose what the property taxes are currently on the property and do a two-year projection. We worked with the legislator that introduced this legislation to change the bill so that the title companies would be required to disclose these facts. This bill passed the House, but time ran out for this bill to get out of the Senate Finance committee.

SB 445 — Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act. — Credit union employees are explicitly exempt from compliance. This bill would have required all mortgage loan originators to apply for licensing and receive continuing education. The bill was tabled in its first committee.

IDAs — An additional $500,000 in IDA recurring funding from the general fund was approved and signed by the governor.

Again, thank you for all your help during this legislative session and I hope to count on you during the year ahead as we gear up for elections and next year’s 60 day session to ensure credit unions are protected and promoted in government. Please contact me at 338-4233, 1-800-366-6628, ext. 2233, 518-698-7842, or via e-mail at should you have any questions.