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May 7, 2014 – The House on Tuesday passed NAFCU-sought H.R. 3468, the "Credit Union Share Insurance Fund Parity Act," which would ensure credit unions have parity with FDIC-insured institutions when it comes to escrow accounts such as Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts.

Advancing a key element of NAFCU's five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief, H.R. 3468 would advance parity for certain accounts in credit unions, including IOLTAs, protected by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund with those accounts in banks that are backed by the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund. This bill was introduced in November by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Gary Miller R-Calif., and Brad Sherman, D-Calif.

"We applaud the House for passing such important legislation for credit unions," said Brad Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs. "Parity for credit unions on Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts is a key element in NAFCU's five-point plan for regulatory relief, and we look forward to working with the Senate to advance this legislation."

Thaler, in a letter Monday to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged House passage of the bill.

Royce, during Tuesday's House action, called H.R. 3468 "bipartisan, common-sense legislation."

The House on Tuesday also passed NAFCU-backed H.R. 2672, the "CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act," which would be helpful to small creditors, including credit unions, by offering relief to lenders that provide certain mortgages in rural areas. The bill would establish a process to appeal if CFPB has not recognized the area as "rural."

H.R. 3584, the "Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act," which would give credit unions that have only private share insurance access to membership in the Federal Home Loan Banks, also passed in the House yesterday.

These bills now await Senate action.