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July 17, 2014 – The House, voting 228-195, passed a fiscal 2015 spending bill Wednesday that includes funding for the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the NCUA Community Development Revolving Loan Fund.

The measure would provide $2 million in CDRLF funding for technical assistance grants for low-income credit unions, and it requests $230 million for the CDFI Fund. All federally insured credit unions with NCUA's low-income designation are eligible to apply to both the CDFI Fund and the CDRLF for assistance.

Tuesday night, Rep. John Fleming, R-La., offered an amendment to the spending bill that would stop Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network from implementing guidance issued in February that seeks to clarify Bank Secrecy Act expectations for financial institutions hoping to provide services to marijuana-related businesses. The amendment failed with a vote of 186-236.

Also in the bill, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., issued an amendment that transfers $1 million from the Internal Revenue Service enforcement division to the IRS office of the inspector general. It is Posey's intent that this money be used to study the impact of IRS nonresident alien bank account reporting and requirements on the U.S. economy. The amendment passed by voice vote.

NAFCU has weighed in on this issue in the past and opposed the IRS's final rule requiring the reporting of interest paid to nonresident aliens because of the undue regulatory burden it places on credit unions. A study of this rule would be a positive for NAFCU members.