CUs, League Highlight Legislative Priorities in Meetings With Reps. McEachin, Scott and Wexton

League and credit union representatives meet with Congressman Don McEachin.

In a busy day of advocacy, your League on Thursday met virtually and in-person with three members of our Congressional delegation. During each, we outlined four key legislative priorities for credit unions:

• Our opposition to proposed changes to the interchange system (Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 – S. 4674) . Merchants and their trade groups are asking lawmakers to expand interchange price caps to credit cards. Your League is adamantly opposed to any such move, noting interchange fees allow financial institutions to cover some costs associated with offering low-cost lines of credit, state-of-the-art fraud protection and reward programs. Changes to interchange fees on credit cards would lead to credit union members and other consumers losing out on security, card benefits and savings.
• Your League is also fighting any regulatory change to the current overdraft program model (Overdraft Protection Act of 2021 – H.R. 4277). Our communication to lawmakers note that overdraft programs are already regulated, which includes a required opt-in feature. We worry that any new regulation or government intervention related to overdraft programs runs the risk of restricting consumer access to this important service, which might well drive those in need to less-regulated entities, such as payday lenders.
• We also oppose legislation that would give the National Credit Union Administration wide authority to examine third-party vendors. We are particularly concerned about the potential costs to credit unions (Improving Cybersecurity of Credit Unions Act of 2022 – S. 4698).
• We support Board Modernization Legislation (Credit Union Board Modernization Act – H.R. 6889 and S. 4325) which would revise the frequency of meetings required to be held by a federally chartered credit union's board of directors. Specifically, the bill requires monthly meetings for new credit unions during their first five years of operation and for credit unions with a low soundness rating. All other federally chartered credit unions must hold at least six meetings annually, with at least one meeting held during each fiscal quarter. Currently, all federally chartered credit union boards must meet at least once a month. We view this measure as an opportunity to modernize an outdated board meeting requirement, while reducing the regulatory burden on eligible credit unions, especially our small credit unions and those located in rural areas.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton

We hosted Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10) via Zoom Thursday morning with Loudoun County Credit Union, Navy Federal, and NextMark Credit Union all joining us on the call. We covered our legislative priorities with the Congresswoman, while credit union representatives shared their work to aid their member-owners and communities.

Rep. Don McEachin

We met Rep. Don McEachin (D-4) at Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union’s Financial Empowerment Center in downtown Petersburg. PAFCU and Homebase Credit Union shared with the Congressman their initiatives to serve the underserved and unbanked in the tri-cities area, as well as credit unions' legislative priorities. Congressman McEachin is a strong advocate for credit unions dating back to his service in the Virginia General Assembly. The Congressman is committed to working with organizations -- like credit unions -- that serve those often marginalized and left behind by other financial services providers.

Rep. Bobby Scott

Joined by ABNB Federal Credit Union, BayPort Credit Union, Chartway Credit Union and Navy Federal, your League ended Thursday's meetings with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-3). Your League and our credit union advocates again highlighted our four legislative priorities and shared our efforts to aid member-owners and our communities.

Special thanks to our credit union advocates for their work in highlighting the real-world impact legislation will have on their credit unions and for sharing the "Credit Union Difference" with lawmakers.