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NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz lodged concerns and objections about the bipartisan, NAFCU-backed H.R. 2287, the "NCUA Budget Transparency Act," sponsored by Reps. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., in a letter to the bill sponsors Thursday.

Matz, in a three-page letter, said the bill, which she noted would require the agency to hold "pre-decisional" public budgetary hearings, would undermine the agency's independence and would be without precedent. "No other financial institutions regulator is subjected to annual budget hearing requirements," she wrote.

"I firmly believe it is of utmost importance to avoid even the appearance of regulatory capture in the budget-making process," Matz stated. She added that credit unions' payments to fund the budget "amount to less than 0.025 percent of credit union assets."

H.R. 2287, introduced in May, was one of several bills addressed in a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing Thursday. The bill would require two things:

• that NCUA make its draft budget publicly available and submit it for publication in the Federal Register; and
• that the agency hold a public hearing with notice provided to allow for public comments on the budget.

In advance of Thursday's hearing, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler pointed out in a letter that H.R. 2287 recognizes credit unions' role in funding NCUA's budget. He said NAFCU supports "gaining a clear picture of the agency's expenditures through this simple act of transparency."

He added, "It is also worth noting that nothing is this measure would prevent NCUA from obtaining the funds necessary to carry out its mission to, through regulation and supervision, provide a safe and sound credit union system."

H.R. 2287 is identical to S. 924, introduced in April by Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Mark Warner, D-Va. Last month, NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters told credit unions he supports the legislation.