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NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger and other senior association staff have solidified NAFCU's reputation as the credit union industry's Washington Watchdog over the past few weeks with non-stop bipartisan meetings on and off Capitol Hill. The team has met with key lawmakers and regulators at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to discuss issues critical to credit unions.

NAFCU prides itself on being No. 1 in advocacy and, over the course of the association's 50 years, has consistently fought to ensure the credit union industry operates in an appropriate, healthy regulatory environment. Here's a quick look at the recent policy momentum NAFCU has built:

• Wednesday, Berger hiked the Hill and met with key House members to discuss credit unions' regulatory relief priorities and to gain support for the NAFCU-backed Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) before its expected vote in the House tomorrow. S. 2155 includes various credit union regulatory relief measures related to member business lending and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. NAFCU has advocated for S. 2155's passage since it was introduced by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and several Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee last November.

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  Also Wednesday, in a win for credit unions, NAFCU helped get language to delay the NCUA's risk-based capital (RBC) rule by two years included in the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (H.R. 5841), introduced that night by Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, was instrumental in getting the language added to the foreign investment bill. Berger had met with Hensarling earlier in the day, and had also met with Reps. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and Denny Heck, D-Wash., to thank them for their support of credit unions, especially their efforts to protect the industry from the adverse effects of the NCUA's RBC rule.

• While on the Hill Wednesday, Berger also met with Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, to discuss the ongoing issue of credit unions being targeted by lawsuits related to unclear website accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). NAFCU has worked closely with Poe to get relief on website accessibility demand letters. Earlier this week, Reps. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Lou Correa, D-Calif., began circulating a letter asking for support from other members of House that will be sent to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to urge the Department of Justice to resolve the ADA website accessibility issue as soon as possible.

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  Monday, Berger and other senior NAFCU staff met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss the FCC's current approach to rulemaking regarding the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and share credit unions' concerns. Following the meeting with NAFCU, the commission issued a request for comments on various TCPA issues, including the definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS).
• At the end of April, Berger and staff met with FinCEN Director Kenneth Blanco to discuss credit unions' regulatory concerns under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the agency's customer due diligence (CDD) rule, which went into effect May 11. Wednesday, FinCEN issued a limited 90-day exemption to covered financial institutions from obligations under the CDD rule to ease the compliance burden.

NAFCU will keep up its push for even more regulatory relief for credit unions in the coming months through meetings with Congress, NCUA, CFPB and other regulators. Credit unions are encouraged to join NAFCU's advocacy efforts through the association's Grassroots Action Center.