Newsroom

NAFCU-sought privacy notice and some qualified-mortgage relief for credit unions are included in the highway bill reported out yesterday by House and Senate conferees, action that helps pave the way for final passage in the House and Senate as a Friday deadline for enactment nears.

An amendment in the House-passed version of the multi-year transportation bill, H.R. 22, by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, included the text of H.R. 601, the "Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act."

H.R. 601 would clarify that consumers will receive privacy notices after opening a new account and when their providers' privacy policies change. This would be a change from the current requirement for annual notices and addresses a part of NAFCU's five-point plan for regulatory relief.

After passing both the House and Senate, the transportation bill headed to a House-Senate conference last month where lawmakers resolved differences in the bills. H.R. 601 already passed the House in April by a voice vote.

The highway bill package also contains the following provisions:

• NAFCU-backed H.R. 1259, the "Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act," which would be helpful to credit unions as they deal with the CFPB's definition "rural area," particularly as it relates to the ability-to-repay mortgage rule;
• authorization for privately insured credit unions to become a member of a Federal Home Loan Bank and requires a Government Accountability Office report that looks at private insurance;
• authority for FDIC to do 18-month exam cycles for well-run community banks, something NAFCU is encouraging NCUA to implement for low-risk credit unions; and
• Export-Import Bank reauthorization.

Finally, it removes a provision calling for the use of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit-risk guarantee fees, or g-fees, for highway funding.

After the bill clears the House and Senate, it heads to the president, who is expected to sign the measure.