Legislative Briefing Reveals Current Issues We’re Watching (and What YPs Can Do to Help)

Cornerstone League EVP/Chief Advocacy Officer Jim Phelps recently led a virtual legislative briefing to help credit union leaders as they engage with elected officials who have returned to their home districts during the August Recess.

“Legislation in D.C. usually works at a slow pace, but right now things are moving pretty quickly,” said Phelps. “It’s an exciting time for a Hike at Home during the August Recess—and later in September for our annual Hike the Hill in Washington, D.C.”

Here are the main takeaways from Phelps’ legislative briefing:

Engage with lawmakers now.

“This is a particularly fortuitous time for us to engage with lawmakers because we just went through the redistricting process, which happens every 10 years,” Phelps said. “With some new districts in play for the midterms, elected officials and candidates for office are more interested in meeting with constituents.”

What we’re watching: Credit cards, overdraft protection, data privacy, and CECL

Phelps pointed to the priority issues that are taking place in Congress right now: the Credit Card Competition Act, overdraft protection, American Data Privacy and Protection Act, and CECL.

That includes the new interchange bill, S. 4674, the Credit Card Competition Act, brought by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.). This bill would change the interchange system by allowing merchants to bypass established secure payment networks. After the interchange debacle on debit card fees from the Durbin amendment 12 years ago, Phelps impressed upon briefing attendees how critical it is to express to lawmakers why we strongly oppose S. 4674.

Read the following op-ed piece by Cornerstone League President/CEO Caroline Willard which outlines the reasons why the Credit Card Competition Act is detrimental to the credit union movement. To learn more and make your voice heard on the legislation.

Another issue Cornerstone is watching is an overdraft protection bill, which would limit credit unions from serving their members. “This has to be considered regulatory overreach, when regulators look at all fees as junk fees,” Phelps said.

Read the following Leaguer story for more details about the recent legislative briefing. For more information on how you can get involved in credit union advocacy, visit Cornerstone’s Action Center.

Stay tuned for a virtual meeting on Oct. 11 where you’ll learn about Hike the Hill and a day in the life of a lawmaker. More details to come in our next newsletter.