CUNA Wellness Advocacy During COVID-19:
Below are the ways CUNA has asked Congress to support credit unions in their efforts to help members recover from the pandemic and the associated economic crisis.
- Support H.R. 6789/S. 3676 which will create as many as 50,000
jobs and open up $5B in private capital
- Support S. 3620 to reduce mortgage defaults, foreclosures
and displacements
- Appropriate funds to CDFI and CDRLF to provide relief to low-income communities
- Provide liability protection for businesses, including credit unions, serving consumers at this critical time
- Extend CLF expansion and TDR restructuring to ensure credit unions and borrowers are protected
Vote in 2020!
The credit union movement fosters an environment of community involvement and is encouraging members to make their voices heard with their vote. Visit creditunionsvote.com, to be sure you're registered to vote, locate your polling place, find the latest updates on changing election dates, and to learn about mail-in and absentee ballot options.
Annual Advocacy Priorities
The ongoing foundation for CUNA's credit union advocacy efforts focuses on the areas below, which represent the input and guidance shared from credit unions across the country.
Regulatory Relief - Credit unions seek to reduce regulatory burden so that credit union members have access to more efficient and affordable financial services. In Washington, CUNA seeks to advance their vision for the CFPB under new leadership.
- They want the CFPB to fix the burdensome rules it has implemented over the last several years and to slow the pace of new rules.
- They also want the CFPB to transfer supervisory authority of the very large credit unions back to NCUA, retain the Credit Union Advisory Council, and make broader and deeper use of its existing exemption authority.
- In individual states, CUNA stands ready to work with leagues in states where attorneys general and legislatures may try to implement overly burdensome regulations.
Overall, credit unions are advocating for Common-Sense Regulation.
Mortgage Lending & Housing
Credit union mortgage lending is a vital path to homeownership for millions of American families. Credit unions need commonsense regulation of consumer-friendly credit union mortgage products and fair and equitable access to a robust secondary market to fulfill their role in our nation's housing market.
- Mortgage lending by credit unions is robust and growing, but heavy-handed regulation and a secondary market structure dominated by just a few of the largest banks stifle credit unions' ability to serve their members' mortgage needs.
Expand and Protect Credit Union Opportunities – Working with CUNA's Credit Union Powers Subcommittee, CUNA is working to modernize the Federal Credit Union Act.
- They will continue to encourage NCUA to allow credit unions to use supplemental capital to comply with the risk-based capital proposal, using this as a pilot for additional supplemental capital authority.
- CUNA wants to work with Congress to find a fix for the government sponsored enterprises that retain access to the secondary market for credit unions.
- At the state level, CUNA will work with leagues to pursue legislation that puts more competitive pressures on the federal charter, including interstate branching legislation and field of membership modernization.