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The House and Senate Armed Services Committees released the compromised version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) late Tuesday evening. The final legislation is positive for credit unions as it does not include several NAFCU-opposed provisions.

NAFCU had called for lawmakers to advance a “clean” NDAA that was free of language that would grant the NCUA third-party vendor authority or extend debit interchange routing requirements to credit cards. Neither are included in the final text.

There are some provisions included that NAFCU is supportive of, including one that strengthens fair hiring practices at insured financial institutions and another that requires data published by the NCUA and other financial regulators to be free and easily accessible.

Of note, there is also a requirement for the Federal Reserve to create a database of institutions that have requested access to a Fed master account and services. The Fed last month proposed a rule to periodically publish a list of depository institutions that have Fed account access in an effort to be more transparent about who has access to its payment rails.

The House is expected to vote on the NDAA this week, after which it’ll head to the Senate for approval. Lawmakers are working to pass the NDAA and government funding before the end of the year.

NAFCU will continue to advocate for credit union priorities in end-of-year legislative efforts. Stay tuned to NAFCU Today for the latest out of Washington.