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Legislative Update with Jay Kruse by Jay Kruse, Chief Advocacy Officer Good Morning, It’s another slow week in Washington D.C. with both the House and Senate back in-district on recess. The Dakotas’ congressional delegation is back making the rounds across North and South Dakota meeting with constituent groups and local chambers. Keep an eye out for an “Inside Washington” or similar congressional update taking place in your area over the next few weeks. While both the House and Senate are in recess, several committees in both chambers have scheduled hearings. There are two hearing taking place later today that I plan to monitor. First, the House Armed Services Committee will begin its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022 at around 9:00 a.m. this morning. We continue to oppose any proposed language that would further expand on-base branch access to for-profit banks. We have successfully prevented the inclusion of this reoccurring and unneeded provision in previous years and will be paying close attention today as NDAA markup begins. Also occurring at 12:00 p.m. CT today, the House Small Business Committee will be holding a hearing entitled, “What Comes Next? PPP Forgiveness.” The hearing will update members on the loan forgiveness phase of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Members will also learn about legislative and administrative efforts to continue streamlining the forgiveness process for borrowers and lenders. Among the witness for the hearing is Ms. Leslie Payne, Assistant Vice President of Commercial Lending at Affinity Federal Credit Union in Basking Ridge, NJ, who is testifying on behalf of the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions. Virtual Hike the Hill – It’s not too late! If you haven’t already, there is still time to register for our upcoming regulatory hike the hill. This is a great opportunity to let the NCUA and CFPB know about any concerns or questions you may have, or to simply listen in and become more familiar with the important credit union issues at hand - especially as we have new leadership at both agencies. Best of all, attendance is free! Please register here so we can provide the regulatory agencies with a list of attendees. The deadline to register is Tuesday, September 7. Also, be sure to share with Amy Kleinschmit or me any topics or issues you would like brought to the attention of the NCUA and/or CFPB. Amy will be providing the agenda to the agencies in advance of these meetings, so please submit your preferred topics to us prior to September 7th. September 14 9:15 AM (CT) NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper 12:00 PM (CT) Representatives from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 2:00 PM (CT) NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman September 15 9:00 AM (CT) NCUA Board Member Rodney E. Hood Since these meetings are virtual there is no limit on the number of attendees, so feel free to register others in your credit union! We hope you are able to join us for these very important virtual events. It is vital that Dakota credit unions continue to voice their concerns and issues to our regulators to help them understand how their decisions are affecting credit union members in the Dakotas. As always, don't hesitate to contact me at jkruse@dakcu.org with any questions or comments.
Legislative Update with Jay Kruse
by Jay Kruse, Chief Advocacy Officer
Good Morning,
It’s another slow week in Washington D.C. with both the House and Senate back in-district on recess. The Dakotas’ congressional delegation is back making the rounds across North and South Dakota meeting with constituent groups and local chambers. Keep an eye out for an “Inside Washington” or similar congressional update taking place in your area over the next few weeks. While both the House and Senate are in recess, several committees in both chambers have scheduled hearings. There are two hearing taking place later today that I plan to monitor.
First, the House Armed Services Committee will begin its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022 at around 9:00 a.m. this morning. We continue to oppose any proposed language that would further expand on-base branch access to for-profit banks. We have successfully prevented the inclusion of this reoccurring and unneeded provision in previous years and will be paying close attention today as NDAA markup begins.
Also occurring at 12:00 p.m. CT today, the House Small Business Committee will be holding a hearing entitled, “What Comes Next? PPP Forgiveness.” The hearing will update members on the loan forgiveness phase of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Members will also learn about legislative and administrative efforts to continue streamlining the forgiveness process for borrowers and lenders. Among the witness for the hearing is Ms. Leslie Payne, Assistant Vice President of Commercial Lending at Affinity Federal Credit Union in Basking Ridge, NJ, who is testifying on behalf of the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.
Virtual Hike the Hill – It’s not too late!
If you haven’t already, there is still time to register for our upcoming regulatory hike the hill. This is a great opportunity to let the NCUA and CFPB know about any concerns or questions you may have, or to simply listen in and become more familiar with the important credit union issues at hand - especially as we have new leadership at both agencies.
Best of all, attendance is free! Please register here so we can provide the regulatory agencies with a list of attendees. The deadline to register is Tuesday, September 7. Also, be sure to share with Amy Kleinschmit or me any topics or issues you would like brought to the attention of the NCUA and/or CFPB. Amy will be providing the agenda to the agencies in advance of these meetings, so please submit your preferred topics to us prior to September 7th.
September 14
9:15 AM (CT) NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper
12:00 PM (CT) Representatives from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
2:00 PM (CT) NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman
September 15
9:00 AM (CT) NCUA Board Member Rodney E. Hood
Since these meetings are virtual there is no limit on the number of attendees, so feel free to register others in your credit union! We hope you are able to join us for these very important virtual events. It is vital that Dakota credit unions continue to voice their concerns and issues to our regulators to help them understand how their decisions are affecting credit union members in the Dakotas.
As always, don't hesitate to contact me at jkruse@dakcu.org with any questions or comments.