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NAFCU last night welcomed the president's call in his State of the Union address for patent reform, access to affordable mortgage loans and increased capital for small businesses.

B. Dan Berger

"NAFCU appreciates the president's call for a year of action in 2014," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "NAFCU looks forward to working with the administration and Congress to advance our country's economic prosperity, especially through several key issues that also reflect our priorities for 2014 – including patent reform, housing finance reform and increased small business lending."

In his State of the Union address, the president called on Congress to pass bipartisan patent reform legislation and promoted housing finance reform to "keep homeownership alive" while protecting taxpayers. He also said the administration would continue its focus on improving small businesses' access to capital.

NAFCU is working in support of the following:

• patent reform efforts to help bring relief to credit unions targeted by demand letters and frivolous litigation associated with low-quality patents;
• government-guaranteed access to the secondary mortgage market for credit unions and loan pricing based on loan quality, not volume; and, among other things,
• an increase in credit unions' member business loan cap, a key element of its five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief.