Multiple members of Congress addressed the audience at the 2024 Congressional Caucus Wednesday, following two previous days of members and other policymakers taking the stage.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who also serves as House Democratic Caucus Chair, spent eight years working at a credit union in California, which he credited for teaching him how to operate in the professional and political world.
Aguilar said nothing should impede the ability of credit unions to accomplish their mission to serve members, and that House Democrats will continue to ensure community lenders have access to capital.
“I know how people and businesses rely on credit unions to thrive and make an impact in the community,” he said. “I brought that with me to Congress and wear it as a badge of honor because it means I’m addressing the concerns and interests of the members of my community, which are your interests as well.”
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, chair of the House Small Business Committee and a owner of a car dealership, said he has relied on community financial institutions to keep him in business for 52 years.
“I need you. I need you to be aggressive and be formidable and be strong because if it gets to the point that you have to do more paperwork that it’s cheaper not to do the loan than to make it, that hurts me,” he said. “I need to have a place where I can borrow, get a line of credit, and make my payroll. That is not the plan the CFPB has for small lenders.”
Williams added that he would work to oppose efforts for the Small Business Administration to become a direct lender, and said continued overregulation from the CFPB and others are “an attack on the free market.”
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee, thanked credit unions for their service, encouraged them to advocate with a “strong, unified voice,” and said he continues to oppose the Big Box Interchange bill, and said there was a lot to fix at the CFPB.
“We need to reform the CFPB in many ways. The Supreme Court upheld its funding structure, which is unfortunate, but what that does is give Congress the opportunity to provide the accountability we need at the CFPB,” he said, noting his bill the CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act, which would make several CFPB reforms including replacing the director with a commission.
Barr also encouraged support for his Rectifying UDAAP Act (which would provide clarity to the CFPB’s unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices authority), and said Congress “wants to make it easier for you to deliver on the great mission of providing the American dream.”
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, thanked credit unions for their service to his district, which has many low-to-moderate income consumers, and is 90% Hispanic.
“Through systemic exclusion and discrimination Hispanics have faced historic economic challenges and disparities, however credit unions have a always been there,” he said. “They’ve always been there to bridge the gap and fix disparities by providing vital services like affordable loans, economic literacy, and small business support to entrepreneurs… unfortunately your ability to provide some of these services is constrained by arbitrary caps like the member business lending cap.”
Gonzalez encouraged the audience to urge their elected officials to support his two bipartisan bills. One would give credit unions additional business loan flexibility and higher maturities, the other would exempt credit union
loans made to veteran-owned businesses from the member business lending cap.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., introduced the bipartisan CDFI Fund Transparency Act, which would require Congressional testimony on the Treasury’s CDFI Fund’s operations and activities.
“This is really important because it brings attention and promotes the incredible work that CDFIs provide for our communities, especially when it comes to the underserved communities that are struggling with access to capital,” she said. “
She introduced the bill with Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., who also appeared at Caucus Wednesday.
Rose said he introduced the bill because he was disturbed by the lack of transparency with the fund.
He added that he continues to be troubled by the expansion of regulations under the current administration: 1,051 new regulations that cost $1.7 trillion by his numbers, with the CFPB’s efforts to classify many common fees as “junk fees” particularly worrisome.
“The term is overly broad and ignores valuable services provided by financial institutions,” he said. “Perhaps the most troublesome part is how the bureau defines the term, ‘junk fee.’ It’s not defined in the law, in any tangible way.”
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, reiterated his strong support for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and praised Veridian Credit Union and Community First Credit Union for turning grants from the Treasury’s CDFI Fund into millions of dollars’ worth of first-time mortgages and payday alternative loans.
Nunn introduced the Rural Credit Act to increase transparency at the CDFI Fund. He introduced the bill at a Veridian Credit Union branch in Des Moines earlier this year.
“Right now if a CDFI-certified institution is at risk of losing its status there’s no course of action to correct. If it loses its status, to regain status or even make a real-time correction is nearly impossible,” he said. “This is a huge problem, mainly because we can’t efforts to lose this level of lending to communities the desperately need it.”
