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Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., cited the burden of increased call report reporting requirements on community financial institutions while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., railed against a Dodd-Frank Act alternative being drafted by House Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, during a Senate Banking hearing Thursday.

The hearing examined capital and liquidity standards for banks with a focus on industry perspectives.

Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., opened the hearing with a warning that excessive regulation could serve to create the next economic downturn, rather than prevent it. Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, pointed out that community banks have already received a number of carve-outs and exemptions and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who testified before the committee Tuesday, recently indicated that they may be receiving relief from capital standards as well.

Brown did note that "there are regulatory burdens for community banks that are real but have nothing to do with Dodd-Frank."

Also during the hearing, Heitkamp said increased call report reporting requirements were disproportionately burdening community financial institutions. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., added that he supports a joint-agency proposed rule to increase the examination cycle for well-run community banks to 18 months.

Warren decried Hensarling's "assault" on the CFPB through his Dodd-Frank Act alternative. Hearing witness Jennifer Taub, a law professor at Vermont Law School, cited a report that found the CFPB's rulemaking timeline could be doubled and enforcement action could be slowed by 75 percent if the bureau was moved to a five-person commission. Warren also singled out Hensarling's proposed repeal of the CFPB's proposed arbitration rule, saying Hensarling's "big fat wet kiss" to Wall Street would only hurt the consumer.

Witnesses during the hearing largely focused on Basel III capital requirements, requesting an exemption for banks at less than a $50 billion threshold and reprieve from other reporting requirements. The Clearing House Association Executive Vice President and General Counsel Greg Baer conceded that the largest banks are now much more liquid than they were pre-crisis, which his association supports, but it has come at the cost of shrinking credit access to low- and middle-income individuals and smaller businesses.