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Credit unions work well with small businesses and have the capital to help them thrive, but they are limited by the arbitrary member business lending cap, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler told the House Small Business Committee in advance of today's budget mark-up.

The committee is marking up its views and estimates on the president's fiscal 2017 budget for the Small Business Administration. The mark-up is slated for 9 a.m. Eastern.

Thaler, writing to committee Chairman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, and Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., noted the partnership credit unions have with the SBA to provide loans to member small businesses. Last year, NAFCU and SBA inked an agreement aimed at getting more credit unions to increase their lending to member-small businesses through SBA micro loan programs.

He also urged the committee to support legislation to increase or remove the arbitrary business lending cap that currently applies to credit unions.

Bills in the House that would provide MBL relief to credit unions include: H.R. 1133, which would exempt loans made to veterans from the MBL cap; H.R. 1188, the "Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act," which would lift the cap from 12.25 to 27.5 percent of total assets; and H.R. 1422, the "Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act," which would exempt certain residential loans from credit unions' MBL cap.