Legislative Update

They’re back!  After six weeks away from Washington, the House and the Senate return to DC this week for a two week sprint to pre-election recess.  Both chambers are expected to be in session this week and next, recessing on September 21st and reconvening the week of November 12th.  Having said that, end of session can be as frantic and unpredictable in Washington as it is in state capitols; so take scheduling predictions with a grain of salt.
 
Floor Schedule
 
The House returns today and will consider bills under suspension of the rules.  Tomorrow, the House will consider additional bills under suspension of the rules.  For the remainder of the week, the House has the following legislation listed for potential consideration:  H.R. 5544 - Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act; H.R. 5949 - FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012; Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013; the National Security and Job Protection Act; H.R. 6213 - No More Solyndras Act.
 
The Senate comes back today and will consider a judicial nomination.  Tomorrow, the Senate will consider H.R. 3457, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act.  Assuming that the House passes the continuing resolution, the Senate is expected to consider the measure next week.
 
Committee Schedules
 
We are following several committee meetings on both sides of the Capitol including the following:
 
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security will hold a hearing on “Direct Deposit of Social Security Benefits.”  In addition, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a full committee markup of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R.2827, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to clarify provisions relating to the regulation of municipal advisors; and the "Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2012."
 
On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a Full committee hearing on "Holding the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) Accountable: Review of Semi-annual Report to Congress."  CFPB Director Richard Cordray will testify.  Additionally, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs Subcommittee and House Financial Services Committee Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee joint hearing on "The JOBS ACT: Importance of Prompt Implementation for Entrepreneurs, Capital Formation, and Job Creation."  And, the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hold a hearing on "Examining the Uses of Consumer Credit Data."
 
Outlook for Credit Union Legislation
 
While we continue to push for enactment of the MBL bill and the ATM bill, the status of these bills remains largely unchanged due to the long Congressional recess.
 
Member Business Lending
 
Senate Majority Leader Reid has promised a vote on our MBL legislation before the end of the year and we continue to prepare for that vote.  Hundreds of meetings have been held by CUNA staff, Leagues and credit unions since GAC, including many over the recent August recess.  Every day, we have more confidence in our ability to win an up-or-down vote on the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Act.  We are exploring every opportunity to advance this legislation before the end of the year; we understand the banks have priorities that they would like to see addressed in the short-term as well.  The overwhelming message we have received from Senators is that they would like to see a legislative package that includes provisions for credit unions and banks which could benefit small businesses.  Combining the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Act and the banks’ extension of the Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAG) could produce exactly that type of package.  We’ve been working closely with key leaders in Congress to ensure that TAG does not move without MBLs.
 
On Wednesday, CUNA is cosponsoring a policy briefing with the Hill newspaper entitled, “Access to Capital for Small Businesses.”  Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) will speak at this event along with many of our MBL coalition partners.  Additional research on this issue has been produced and will be presented by the Small Business Majority and R Street Institute.  We are encouraging Congressional staff to attend this briefing; attached is an invitation to this event that was transmitted to hill staff last week.
 
ATM Fee Disclosures
 
In July, the House of Representatives passed our ATM Fee Disclosure bill (H.R. 4367 / S. 3204) by a vote of 371 – 0.  As I noted before the recess, the bill remains stalled in the Senate by unrelated matters.  The Senate Banking Committee leadership has combined the ATM bill with a piece of legislation designed to protect the privilege of information submitted to the CFPB.  This combined legislation (S. 3394) is being held by Senator DeMint (R-SC) for reasons unrelated to either issue.  Senator DeMint has had a hold on the stand alone privilege bill (S. 2099) because he wants an up-or-down vote on the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act.  He is unlikely to release his hold on S. 3394 unless he gets that vote; and, he is unlikely to be granted that vote.  So, we’re at a standstill right now.  To be clear:  we support moving the ATM bill as quickly as possible – whether it is combined with the privilege bill or on its own.  We have been working with others to resolve the hold situation on the combined bill; but we also believe that the ATM bill, which currently has more than 60 cosponsors, could move quickly if it was put forward as a stand-alone measure.
 
Conclusion
 
If you have any questions regarding these or any other issues, I hope you will not hesitate to be in contact with John Magill, Sam Whitfield or Ryan Donovan.