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The House and Senate are both in session this week, with the Senate expected to vote on a NAFCU-backed regulatory reform bill that includes member business lending (MBL) and certain Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) relief provisions.

The Senate took action Thursday to set the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) up for a potential procedural vote on the bill early this week, paving the way for potential Senate passage of the legislation before the end of the week.

NAFCU supports numerous provisions within the bill, including:

• The Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act, which would allow credit unions to treat loans for one-to-four-unit, non-owner-occupied dwellings that qualify for the MBL exemption as residential loans with lower interest rates – similar to how banks make these loans to small businesses.
• The Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act, which would exempt depository institutions that have originated fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit and closed-end mortgages in the previous two years from certain HMDA reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

NAFCU encourages all credit unions to reach out to their senators ahead vote to urge them to support the bill. More information about the legislation is available here.

On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hold a hearing to discuss data security. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., chair of the subcommittee, recently released NAFCU-sought draft legislation that would create a strong national data security standard for retailers and other entities.

NAFCU has led the effort to ensure all entities that hold or collect consumers' personal financial information are held to similar standards as credit unions, and NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger met with Luetkemeyer in February to discuss data security issues. NAFCU resources on data security are available here.

Other hearings of note this week:

• Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee will mark-up the fiscal year 2019 budget resolution.
• Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to discuss ways to protect e-commerce consumers from counterfeits.
• Wednesday, the House Small Business Committee will discuss the impact of regulatory reform on small businesses.

Also happening this week:

• NAFCU's Strategic Growth Conference begins today in Nashville, Tenn. NAFCU Today will feature coverage of the conference, which runs through Wednesday, and updates will also be available on Twitter with #CreditUnionGrowth.
• Wednesday, NAFCU is offering a free webcast on the NCUA's new Automated Cybersecurity Examination Tool (ACET). Learn more about the webcast and register for it here.
• Wednesday, the NCUA is hosting a Facebook Live event with the Federal Trade Commission to discuss protecting consumers from financial scams.
• Friday is the last day to submit entries for NAFCU's Annual Awards Competition after the deadline was extended an additional week.