PHOENIX –Legislation to change the CFPB into an independent commission and replace its one director with a board may soon move out of the House Financial Services Committee, according to CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan.

Donovan shared the news at a Sept. 23 session during the CUNA Community Credit Union and The Federation 2015 Annual Conferences at the Sheraton Downtown. Roughly 260 credit union industry executives registered to attend all or part of the meeting, the organization said.

Donovan told attendees that the Obama Administration had gone on the record as adamantly opposing the idea for some time, but recently, officials appeared more open to the possibility.

“I think they might be thinking of their legacy and they are also thinking of the possibility that the next president might be a Republican,” Donovan said.

Change proponents have argued that moving from a single executive structure to a commission structure would make the agency more stable and less subject to severe political change based on administrative changes.

Donovan said there has been significant bipartisan support for the measure among members of the House Financial Services Committee, as well as discussions around funding.

“The thing is, to do this it will cost the government some money,” Donovan said. “So there was some talk about how to pay for it, and we opposed a measure to have banks and credit unions pay for it.”