Newsroom

December 17, 2018

This week: CECL talks Wednesday, NAFCU testifies Friday

capitolNow in the final scheduled week of the legislative calendar, Congress will need to pass a government funding bill to prevent a partial government shutdown and extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) before it lapses; both are currently set to expire Friday. Also this week, NAFCU is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on housing finance reform.

NAFCU witness Rick Stafford, president and CEO of Tower Federal Credit Union (Laurel, Md.), will share with lawmakers credit unions' priorities and concerns with a bipartisan housing finance reform bill during a hearing slated Friday before the House Financial Services Committee. This will be NAFCU's 12th overall time testifying during the 115th Congress. Stafford also testified in October 2017 during a hearing on housing finance reform priorities before a House Financial Services subcommittee. This hearing was rescheduled from its original date of Dec. 6; read more here.

This week:

  • The House and Senate are expected to continue work on government funding legislation, including the financial services and general government (FSGG) appropriations measure. NAFCU has heavily advocated for full funding for the NCUA's Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) and Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which is included in the Senate-passed version of the bill. Both Senate- and House-passed bills include full funding for the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) and 504 loan programs, which are used by credit unions.
  • The House may also continue its work on year-end tax legislation. Last week, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler wrote leaders of the tax-writing committee urging that a technical fix be provided to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) so a 21 percent excise tax is not imposed on certain not-for-profits in any year-end tax bill.

In other happenings this week:

  • The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day policy-setting meeting tomorrow. It is widely expected that this meeting will end with another quarter-point rate hike. NAFCU will issue a Macro Data Flash report at the close of the meeting Wednesday.
  • The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is holding a meeting Wednesday to discuss implementation concerns regarding its current expected credit loss (CECL) standard; NAFCU will monitor the meeting. Most recently, credit unions' CECL concerns were aired during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing last week; read more here.
  • The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the nation's debt Thursday.