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Rep. Patrick McHenry weighed impact
of this year's elections on Dodd-Frank.
(Hathcox photos)
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Sept. 17, 2012 – House Financial Services Committee Member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told NAFCU Congressional Caucus attendees Friday that he believes “a large scale re-write of the Dodd-Frank Act” is a possibility in 2013 if former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wins the presidential election in November.
McHenry, who also serves as chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs, also predicted that the House will soon take up tax reform. Exactly when that happens, and over how long a time period that work continues, will depend on the outcome of the presidential election, he said. Should President Obama be reelected, the House will likely try to resolve tax rates before the end of this year. If Romney wins, the House will probably be able to spend 2013 working on the issue, he said.
Regardless of the outcome, McHenry expressed optimism that credit unions’ tax exemption will be preserved. The exemption is “supported by a wide majority of both parties,” he assured attendees.
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Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz said
credit unions have been steady in their
efforts to help small business.
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Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., also a key member of the House Financial Services Committee, used his appearance on the final day of Caucus to tout H.R. 3644, a bill he introduced that calls for replacing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with private capital. Garrett, who currently chairs the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee (with jurisdiction over Fannie and Freddie), said if the reformed housing system continues to rely on the federal government, “things won’t be that different.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., chair of the Democratic National Committee and member of the House Budget Committee, expressed her support for credit unions and praised NAFCU for its advocacy work specifically. She pointed out that the issue she hears about most is access to credit. Small businesses must be able to access capital to get their businesses off the ground, she said. On that point, she said “credit unions are filling the lending gap.”
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Rep. Ed Royce, chief House sponsor of
a proposed increase in CUs' member
business lending authority, said the
legislation should pass now.
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Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chief sponsor of the NAFCU-backed House bill to increase credit unions’ member business lending authority, said it’s “a no brainer” that the House should pass the legislation. He noted that the bill would help create 140,000 new jobs and do so through the private sector without costing taxpayers. “That would be very helpful right now,” Royce said. “We need to do this.”
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