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House won't vote today on CU bill

WASHINGTON (4/29/08)—The Credit Union National Association's (CUNA) lobbying team will be on Capitol Hill early Tuesday morning to focus on next steps after learning that a much anticipated Credit Union Regulatory Relief Act (CURRA, H.R. 5519) was pulled from Tuesday's House voting schedule.

Reasons for the House leadership decision to pull the bill were not yet clear, according to CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica. However, he pointed out that the suspension calendar is reserved for noncontroversial measures.

CURRA's noncontroversial status changed when the bankers disregarded House leadership wishes and objected to the credit union bill. House leaders had planned to pair the credit union measure with a regulatory relief bill for banks.

CUNA and the leagues late Friday and Monday urgently requested that credit unions contact their members of Congress in advance of the expected House vote.

"The bankers will sacrifice their own regulatory relief measure simply to ensure credit unions get absolutely nothing from Congress," said Mica. "This behavior ultimately squeezes working Americans, who now more than ever should benefit from affordable financial services provided by credit unions."

CURRA proposes, among other things, to permit federal credit unions to add service to underserved areas regardless of original field of membership. It would also omit member business loans to underserved areas from counting toward the current cap.

However, only the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA, H.R. 1537) would address the overall MBL cap and approve a risk-based capital system for credit unions.

"We will do our utmost to get CURRA back on the House schedule under regular order, if at all possible," said Mica.

The CUNA leader thanked state leagues and credit unions for their tremendous grassroots efforts in recent days. "Our preliminary reports indicated we would have had a solid victory if this had come to a vote," he added.

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CURRA: H.R. 5519