Newsroom

April 23, 2015

Mulvaney demands NCUA budget transparency

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., echoed NAFCU's call for more transparency about the NCUA budget during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on regulatory relief Thursday and emphasized the need for open budget hearings, which have not been held since 2009.

Mulvaney asked NCUA Director of Examination and Insurance Larry Fazio why the agency has not continued having open budget hearings. Fazio responded that NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz believed the meetings were not productive and gave the appearance of "regulatory capture," or catering to special interests. Mulvaney then asked Fazio how meeting face-to-face to discuss issues – as the regulators and lawmakers were doing in Thursday's hearing – compared with simply posting information online, and Fazio conceded that meetings were more productive.

Mulvaney reiterated his demand for a line-by-line explanation of NCUA's budget, noting, "It's been a year now since I asked for an answer for that specific question." When Mulvaney asked if NCUA would hold a 2015 open budget meeting, Fazio said it had not yet been decided.

In March, Mulvaney introduced NAFCU-backed legislation that would require the Government Accountability Office to study almost every aspect of NCUA's budgeting and expenditure practices.

H.R. 1176, the "NCUA Budget Transparency Act," would require GAO to undertake an in-depth review of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund, Central Liquidity Facility and NCUA's annual operating budget. GAO would include in its final report any recommendations it had for improving transparency at the agency.

In April, Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Mark Warner, D-Va., also introduced NAFCU-backed bipartisan legislation to require public hearings on NCUA's annual budget and ensure NCUA makes a detailed business-type draft budget publicly available through the Federal Register.

In light of the fact that credit unions fund the NCUA's operations, NAFCU has been leading a longstanding effort to get the agency to rein in its budget growth and to be fully transparent on its budget and expenditures.