What does Advocacy Mean to Your Credit Union?
4 Major Achievements in California Legislature
AB 3088 maintains credit unions’ ability to work with members on mortgage forbearances — a MAJOR VICTORY. The League worked extensively with Governor Gavin Newsom to shape the outcome of AB 3088. The bill does not include any language on foreclosure moratoriums, mandatory forbearance, or long-term eviction moratoriums and was a last-minute compromise out of multiple bills dealing with eviction and forbearance. AB 3088 came after we battled and defeated AB 1436 and AB 2501.
AB 1436 moved from one Senate committee to another and was a near repeat of the mortgage forbearance requirements that credit unions had already defeated in AB 2501 in late June. The mortgage provision from then-defeated AB 2501 was dropped into a housing eviction/rent relief bill (AB 1436).
Earlier in the year, AB 2501 was introduced after state legislators came back from an unexpected COVID-19 recess and would have let any borrower request a mortgage forbearance for up to 12 months, and up to six months on an auto loan, without any proof of economic impact due to the pandemic. It also included a year-long moratorium on foreclosures, meaning a borrower could go up to two years without making a payment.
The League and credit unions rallied together during two intense Connect For The Cause campaigns by sending a total of 21,125 messages to Assemblymembers and Senators to kill AB 2501 and AB 1436!
Defeated multiple bills that attempted to expand the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), namely SB 561. This measure would have removed the attorney general’s guidance for businesses, as well as the 30-day right to cure, making the entire CCPA subject to private right of action.
SB 1121 clarifies the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) exemption included in the new CCPA and protects credit unions from large compliance costs related to updating information-technology systems for new consumer notices and opt-out requirements.
Notable Accomplishments in Congress
H.R. 748: The CARES Act
- Federally insured credit unions initially included as eligible lenders in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
- Expanded the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF) borrowing authority.
- Credit unions granted Troubled Debt Restructure (TDR) flexibility.
- Reviving and including credit unions in the Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAG).
H.R. 266: The CARES Act Supplemental
- Rep. Susie Lee’s (D-NV) provision to include privately insured credit unions as eligible for PPP lending.
- Prescribed terms for “second round” of PPP funding ($60 billion for credit unions under $10 billion and $50 billion in assets, respectively).
Orchestrated several letters from Members of Congress to the Administration to resolve unsettled issues:
- Sept. 18, 2020: Bipartisan coalition led by three California Congressional Members (Garamendi, Speier, and Cook) ensures that the only depository institutions to have rent-free access on military bases are credit unions.
- Aug. 8, 2020: Nevada House Delegation to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leader Kevin McCarthy requesting extension of the Troubled Debt Restructuring language in The CARES Act.
- April 3, 2020: Rep. Doug LaMalfa to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on credit union concerns with PPP applications.
- April 8, 2020: Rep. Brad Sherman to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell on Regulation D modifications.
- April 16, 2020: 65 House bipartisan coalition Members to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leader Kevin McCarthy on requesting removal of the member business lending cap in future stimulus packages (26 of CA/NV Members signed).
- April 20, 2020: Rep. Susie Lee (and others) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on privately insured credit unions and PPP eligibility.
- April 28, 2020: Rep. Linda Sanchez to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on granting payroll tax eligibility for federally chartered credit unions.
Sought legislation of modernizations to the federal charter from CA and NV Representatives:
- S. 3389
Sens. Tim Scott and Catherine Cortez Masto — Increasing the maturity cap on non-mortgage related loans. - H.R. 5981
Reps. Katie Porter and Mark Amodei — The Credit Union Board Modernization Act. - *H.R. 6550 and H.R. 6789
(Reps. Brad Sherman and Maxine Waters) — Safe harbor from the member business lending cap and CLF authority extension.
4 Big Wins in Regulatory Reform
Further delay of the Risk-Based Capital Rule to Jan. 1, 2023 (during this delay the agency will further consider asset securitization, subordinated debt, and a community bank leverage ratio analog); updated appraisal rule for residential real estate loans (increasing the threshold to $400,000); expanded payday alternative loans rule; and a less burdensome final rule for voluntary mergers of federally insured credit unions.
Improved the international remittances rules (increasing the safe harbor threshold to 500, allowing continued use of estimates); increased the HMDA reporting thresholds (for closed-end mortgages from 25 to 100; for HELOCS from 25 to 200 after expiration of current temporary threshold of 500 on Jan. 1, 2022); ensured debt collection rulemaking is limited to third-party debt collectors, revocation of the payday lending rule’s underwriting requirements, and the overdraft rulemaking efforts remain on the bureau’s inactive calendar.
After years of advocacy work and credit union frustration with the transaction limits under Regulation D, the FRB’s six per-month limit on convenient transfers from savings deposits was rescinded.
4 Major Achievements in Nevada Legislature
During the second special session of 2020, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed Senate Bill 4 — the first-in-the nation legislation protecting Nevada workers and businesses from frivolous lawsuits related to COVID-19. Although the initial draft did not include credit unions, the Nevada Credit Union League, alongside its member credit unions, engaged legislators in both houses to ensure credit unions were included in the final draft.
Senate Bill 479 eliminates the requirement that a residential mortgage loan originator acting on behalf of privately insured institutions be licensed as a mortgage agent by the Financial Institutions Division (FID) of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. This requirement is eliminated when the FID enters into a memorandum of understanding with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for the registration of mortgage loan originators under the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act). The bill will allow privately insured credit unions to operate on a level playing field with federally insured credit unions and other financial institutions.
Assembly Bill 321 would have made it possible for homebuilders to prepare new buildings for future solar installation so those costs can be included in financing. Additionally, the bill would have required lenders to consider the monthly cost savings that a rooftop solar system would provide when determining the ability of a borrower to pay a home loan. The Nevada League was able to get the author to table the bill and not have it heard this year, saving Nevada credit unions from figuring out how to determine ability-to-pay (ATP) by adjusting debt-to-income ratios based on expected energy cost savings from net metering.
Senate Bill 220 prohibits an operator, with certain exceptions, of a website or online service from selling certain personal identifiable information collected from a consumer if a consumer submits a verified request to the operator directing the operator not to sell such information. The bill authorizes the Nevada attorney general to seek an injunction or a civil penalty against an operator who violates these provisions. Early in the process, the senate majority leader accepted Nevada League amendments to exempt financial institutions that comply with the opt-out requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and its implementing regulations.
PAC and Grassroots in California and Nevada
The California League PAC (Political Action Committee) raised more than $399,700 toward state candidates and over $108,600 toward CULAC for federal candidates through individual giving during GAC Sweepstakes, June CULAC Challenge, and ongoing payroll deduction programs. Notably recognized, California took first place in fundraising for GAC Sweepstakes and accounted for 40 percent of the June CULAC Challenge total donations across 50 states.
The League’s PAC has interviewed 15 state and federal candidates; attended 24 fundraisers; and hosted 7 in-person and 17 virtual state and federal district meetings, fundraisers and/or check presentations.
The Nevada League raised $45,000 for the Political Administration Fund; $55,000 for the Political Action Committee; and $4,805 for CULAC in individual giving and payroll deduction.
The League’s PAC has interviewed 21 state senate and assembly candidates and statewide candidates were interviewed.