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June 25, 2014 – NAFCU urged support for increased credit union member business loan authority and warned of the potentially negative effects of NCUA's risk-based capital proposal in a letter Tuesday to a House subcommittee reviewing credit availability in rural America.

"Credit unions are proud that they have been making safe and affordable agricultural loans for a number of years, including through the economic crisis," wrote Brad Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs, in a letter to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development and Credit.

Thaler urged the panel to support H.R. 688, introduced by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., to raise credit unions' MBL cap from 12.25 percent of assets to 25 percent and which reflects a key element of NAFCU's five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief. He also urged panel member to follow developments regarding NCUA's proposed capital rule. "If implemented as proposed, the new rule could have a chilling effect of reducing lending in rural areas," he noted.

The subcommittee holds a hearing today on credit availability in rural America. NAFCU's letter went to panel Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Jim Costa, D-Calif.