Newsroom

November 13, 2015

This week: Highway bill action with CU relief, more

NAFCU this week is monitoring next steps in Congress for a House-passed highway bill that would advance association-sought relief on privacy notice requirements and another providing relief regarding certain residential mortgages held in portfolio.

H.R. 22, the highway bill, is headed to a conference panel where differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills will be resolved.

This multi-year transportation bill passed the House earlier this month and includes an amendment from House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, that advances some NAFCU-supported regulatory relief measures for credit unions, including H.R. 601, the "Elimination Privacy Notice Confusion Act." H.R. 601 would clarify that consumers will receive privacy notices after opening a new account and when their providers' privacy policies change.

This would be a change from the current requirement for annual notices and addresses a part of NAFCU's five-point plan for regulatory relief.

In other action, the House could vote as early as this week on H.R. 1210, the "Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act," which would provide a safe harbor from certain qualified mortgage requirements for residential mortgage loans held on a mortgage originator's portfolio. The NAFCU-backed measure was approved by the House Financial Services Committee in July.

Also ahead this week:

  • On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Communications Commission. NAFCU recently entered a suit challenging the FCC's order on Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibitions on autodialed calls. The hearing begins at 10:15 a.m. Eastern.
  • A hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday examines information security at the Department of Education. Specifically, the committee will review the department's efforts to secure the personal information provided by federal student aid applicants and their parents. The hearing is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.
  • At 9:15 a.m. Eastern Thursday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will examine the lack of due process and transparency in the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation of non-bank financial companies as systemically important financial institutions.