State Leagues and CUNA continue to lobby Congress for credit union regulatory relief, specifically in securing continued passage of the CHOICE Act, which is the Dodd-Frank Act alternative legislation. The timing for additional action on this bill, which contains multiple provisions to aide credit union operations, continues to be in flux as House leaders assess the likelihood of a positive vote on the floor, determining if there is enough support to pass as the bill has been split down party lines. The bill also originally contained the controversial provision (to Congress) of repealing the “Durbin Amendment.”
As anticipated, on May 24th House leaders decided to remove the Durbin repeal language from the bill prior to its consideration on the House floor, which could be in June. Georgia credit unions were encouraged in the weeks leading up to the committee vote, and then again on May 16th to reach out to their members of Congress to encourage the passage of the bill with the Durbin amendment repeal. While the retention of this repeal language was never likely to remain in the bill given its polarizing nature in an already challenging bill to pass, this was the window of opportunity for credit unions to express their continued displeasure with price controls Congress placed on all financial institutions that utilize payment cards.
In the meantime, there are countless other issues being addressed in Washington, D.C., including taxation. The credit union tax status was defended in a Ways and Means Committee hearing on May 18th dedicated on how tax reform will grow the economy and create jobs. Prior to the hearing, CUNA sent a letter urging the Committee to protect the federal tax status of credit unions in the context of comprehensive tax reform. CUNA estimates that taxing credit unions would represent a tax increase on more than 110 million Americans, and would likely lead to the elimination of many credit unions across the country. Leagues and CUNA remain engaged with policymakers on tax reform discussions, including in Congress and with the Department of the Treasury, which released a broad outline of President Donald Trump’s tax reform agenda in late April. Stay tuned on the tax reform front; it has been reported as of May 23rd that the Administration has increased the estimated 10-year cost of the credit union tax exemption by 32.3%, and more details on the tax reform agenda are expected from the Administration in June.
