The House Financial Services Committee approved a group of bills on Thursday designed to provide regulatory relief to credit unions and community banks.
"It is not an exaggeration to say that community banks and credit unions are withering on the vine," Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said. "We are losing, on average, more than one a day and they are not perishing of natural causes."
"The sheer weight, volume, cost, complexity and uncertainty of federal regulation is a burden that is killing them off," he added. "And as they die, unfortunately, so do the dreams of millions of our fellow citizens who rely upon these community financial institutions to achieve their American dream of financial independence."
According to the committee, all of the bills approved on Thursday were previously passed by the House or the committee, but were not put up for a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
"We're hearing there's a possibility for House floor consideration at some point in April, either individually or in a group," CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said. "There isn't a lot controversy with these bills."
NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said the Senate Banking Committee is considering a larger regulatory relief package as opposed to individual bills. Thaler noted that a Senate package is not necessarily going to mirror the bills passed by the House Financial Services Committee.
"We continue to talk with the Senate Banking Committee," he said. "They may tackle issues that haven't been addressed yet in the House markup. We're talking with senators over there."
Thaler said the Senate markup would likely take place in mid-April but an official date has not been announced.
Both CUNA and NAFCU support the Mortgage Choice Act of 2015, which was passed by the committee on Thursday. The legislation would adjust the definition of points and fees under the Truth in Lending Act as applied in the CFPB's qualified mortgage rule.
The trades also support the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2015. Until this bill takes effect, the CFPB would have to adjust requirements related to servicing mortgage loans and administering escrow amounts or make them exempt. The change would apply to mortgage servicers that service 20,000 or fewer mortgage loans annually.
The Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Act of 2015, also approved by the committee, would provide the NCUA with more time to assess the impact of the revised risk-based capital proposal on mortgage servicing assets. Part of the legislation requires the NCUA to conduct a mortgage servicing assets study and report back to Congress within one year.
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