CUNA eyes hi-way, appropriations bills for regulatory relief action

The Thanksgiving holiday is over, left-over leftovers have been tossed, and business returns to Capitol Hill. The U.S. Congress is back in session facing serious deadlines before lawmakers adjourn for the year.

A conference committee is currently considering H.R. 22, referred to most often as “the highway bill.” The panel must work out differences between that House bill and its Senate counterpart, with a looming Dec. 4 deadline. That’s the date on which authorization for the Highway Trust Fund expires.

The bill is important to credit unions because the House-passed reauthorization includes two credit union provisions strongly supported by CUNA: one would modernize privacy notification requirements and the other would permit privately insured credit unions to join the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system.

“We have been working to make sure these provisions survive the conference and we hope final action will be taken on the bill this week,” CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said Monday.

CUNA is also closely monitoring the omnibus federal government appropriations bill, as funding for the U.S. government is set to expire Dec. 11–just 10 days away.

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