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While the Senate Wednesday passed a short-term funding deal to fund the federal government through Dec. 11 – which the president subsequently signed to prevent a government shutdown – the House began work on a revised version of Democrats' Phase 4 coronavirus relief package as negotiations continued to try to reach a bipartisan deal. As the House considered the package, NAFCU reiterated credit union priorities to ensure the industry can continue to meet members' needs during the crisis.

In the letter to the House, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler noted credit union-supported provisions of the revised HEROES Act, including improvements to the loan forgiveness process for the paycheck protection program (PPP), other changes to small business lending programs, and additional funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.

Thaler also outlined credit unions' top asks for additional relief not included in the legislation, including:

• providing relief from credit unions' member business lending (MBL) cap so they can provide more credit to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic;
• extending loan maturity limits set under the Federal Credit Union Act;
• modernizing the E-SIGN Act; and
• extending several provisions included in the CARES Act related to the NCUA's Central Liquidity Facility, troubled debt restructurings, deposit insurance, the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard, and capital flexibility.

However, there are some provisions of the bill that "may have unintended consequences and could place new hardships on credit unions, hampering their ability to help members get access to credit," Thaler argued, adding that they "could further exacerbate the current health and economic crisis." These provisions are related to:

• mandated blanket loan forbearance;
• overly broad restrictions on first-party debt collection;
• the integrity of the credit reporting system; and
• major changes to bankruptcy provisions.

With the House set to return to their home districts until after the November election by the end of the week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were continuing to negotiate yesterday to see if an agreement on a bipartisan package could be achieved. House leadership originally scheduled a vote on the revised HEROES package last night, but delayed the vote to allow more time for negotiations to continue in an effort to find a bipartisan deal. The Senate is not expected to consider the revised HEROES Act without a bipartisan agreement.

NAFCU will continue its aggressive advocacy to ensure credit unions' concerns are addressed in any final legislation.