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NAFCU is urging House leaders to put their support behind the regulatory relief efforts found in H.R. 367, the "Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act," so credit unions can better response to market conditions and meet the demands of their 96 million members.

H.R. 367, the "REINS Act," was introduced last month by Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind., to require any executive branch regulation with an economic impact in excess of $100 million, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget, to come before Congress for an up-or-down vote before it could be enacted.

Brad Thaler

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said the process established udner H.R. 376 "could help ensure additional accountability from the administration and Congress regardless of which political party is in the majority."

Thaler also urged support for H.R. 2572, the "Regulatory Relief for Credit Unions Act" introduced by Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif. This bill incorporates several elements of NAFCU's five-point plan for comprehensive regulatory relief:

• a risk-based capital system for credit unions;
• authority for NCUA to grant federal credit unions a waiver to follow a state rule instead of a federal one in certain situations;
• authority for NCUA to step in where appropriate to modify or delay application of a CFPB rule affecting credit unions as long as the goal of the rule is still met (parity is also given for community banks and their regulator in this regard);
• requirement for NCUA and CFPB revisit cost/benefit analyses of rules after three years so they have a true sense of the compliance costs for credit unions (parity is also given for community banks in this regard);
• requirement for NCUA to conduct a study of the Central Liquidity Facility and make legislative recommendations for its modernization;
• more control for credit unions over their investment decisions and portfolio risk; and
• parity for credit unions parity with FDIC-insured institutions when it comes to deposit insurance coverage on Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts.