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The House Thursday passed the Financial Services and General Government appropriation's bill, which houses a two-year delay of the NCUA's risk-based capital (RBC) rule, among other NAFCU-backed provisions. This is the third time this RBC-delay provision, initiated by NAFCU, has passed the House.

The bill passed by a vote of 217-199.

"NAFCU strongly supports the FY 19 FSGG bill, which includes a two-year delay of the NCUA's risk-based capital rule," said Carrie Hunt, NAFCU's executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel. "NAFCU has led this charge on behalf of America's credit unions, and enacting this legislation would give them more time to comply with the rule while also giving the NCUA time to revise it. On behalf of our membership and the entire credit union industry, NAFCU thanks Chairman Graves for his leadership and hard work in producing this common sense measure."

This RBC-delay provision, also included in the House-passed Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (H.R. 5841) and the JOBS Act 3.0, comes from the Common Sense Capital Relief Act (H.R. 5288), which was introduced by Reps. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and Denny Heck, D-Wash., in March. NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger met with Posey and Heck to thank them for their ongoing efforts to protect the industry from the adverse effects of this rule.

NAFCU supports an appropriate RBC system for credit unions, but has been opposed to NCUA's RBC rulemaking since its passage and has urged the rule be modified or effective date delayed, particularly because of increased regulatory burdens and costs.

The Financial Services and General Government appropriation's bill also includes a number of other NAFCU-backed regulatory relief measures, including language from the Mortgage Choice Act, the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act, and the TRID Improvement Act.

The bill also retains funding for the NCUA's Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI). Full funding levels for the Small Business Administration's 7(a) and 504 loan programs are in the bill.

NAFCU will monitor this bill as it makes its way to the Senate.