The activity in Congress continues to be surrounding on the shutdown, with the press and social media highlighting any nuance in the debate. This singular focus is apparent in the committees in Congress as well – just last week the new U.S. House Financial Services Chairman, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), reached out to the national financial trade associations to have them illustrate what their members were doing to help federal employees impacted by the shutdown. Credit unions, Leagues and CUNA have been highlighting this federal shutdown assistance support; to see the activities by state that have been collected to date please click here.
And while there have been hearings on other issues such as fighting elder fraud, the road for legislative initiatives in Congress is metaphorically blocked until the federal government is funded. But this won’t last forever, and when it’s over, what can credit unions anticipate? For the immediate situation on the shutdown, any funding bill put forth is analyzed for potential impact as the smallest unrelated amendment could be detrimental to the industry. And while the new House Financial Services Chairman Waters was focused on what the industry and others are doing to help federal workers, she will have an agenda for her committee as well. She has shared publicly that she intends to pursue consumer and investor protection as her top priority, and is interested in reforming credit reporting as she is planning to have the CEOs of the three major credit reporting firms appear before the committee next month. Stay tuned!
