adminSenate Passes FSGG Funding Bill
Earlier this week, the Senate passed its Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019 as part of four appropriations bills. Prior to the Senate’s vote, CUNA wrote to Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer in support of this legislation.
“We thank the Senate for passing the bill, and for the attention of Senate appropriators to call for full funding for several important funds that credit unions are able to leverage to better serve their members and communities,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle.
This legislation includes CUNA-supported funding of $250 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. This account is fully funded at Fiscal Year 2018 levels, an achievement in this austere fiscal climate. The House passed counterpart to this week’s Senate bill includes $248 million for the CDFI Fund. We remain confident that the Senate position on CDFI funding will prevail in the final funding bill for fiscal year 2019.
This legislation also includes CUNA-supported funding of $2 million for the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund. This is same amount received by the Fund in Fiscal Year 2018 levels, a significant achievement in this austere fiscal climate.
The bill also funds other accounts of importance to credit unions, including:
- $30 billion loan volume cap for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) program, which allows the government to guarantee up to 85% of loans, with the guaranteed portion not counting against credit unions’ cap on member business lending. The loan cap in this bill is $1 billion more than Fiscal Year 2018’s enacted level of $29 billion.
- $7.5 billion loan cap for the SBA’s 504 loan program, which is used for long-term, fixed-rate financing on major fixed assets, such as equipment and real estate. Credit unions also participate in this loan program.
The bill’s report language also contains a number of other items of interest to credit unions, including:
- FinCen Money Laundering. — Urges FinCen to continue to work closely with the Department of Justice to combat money laundering through U.S. financial institutions.
- IRS Data Security Protections. — The Committee directs the IRS to brief the Committee within 90 days on the IRS’s efforts to protect personally identifiable information of minors.
On behalf of America’s credit unions and their 110 million members, CUNA will continue to advocate for common sense regulations and for full funding of the CDFI and CDRLF. The House passed its FSGG bill last week, legislation that contains significant regulatory relief for credit unions. See the full Washington Wire here.
