This week, the House and Senate are out of session due to the holiday, but they will return on July 9. Last week, CUNA wrote to Senators McCain, Reed, Inhofe and Representative Thornberry, and Smith to oppose a provision in the House version of H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that does not include credit unions. If passed, this provision could put credit unions at a competitive disadvantage by granting banks greater access to service members and their families on military bases.
Section 124 of the Federal Credit Union Act, which governs the furnishing of office space and land to on-base credit unions, subjects credit unions to the commanding officer’s discretionary allocation of spaces on military bases or federal facilities. As written, the NDAA provision would grant base access to banks without such discretionary limitations.
Section 2808 of the House version of NDAA was intended to treat Federal or State chartered insured depository institutions equally with respect to the financial terms of leases, services, and utilities on military bases. Unfortunately, the bill’s definition of “insured depository institutions” does not include credit unions. Read the full Washington Wire here.