As part of their effort to defeat parts of a bill that bankersreally want, CUNA and NAFCU are bringing out the big guns.

CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney and NAFCU President/CEO FredBecker are among the witnesses at next Wednesday's House hearing ona measure that would give banks regulatory and tax relief.

The joint hearing of the House Financial Services Committee'sSubcommittee on Capital Markets and Government SponsoredEnterprises and Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and ConsumerCredit is set for 2 p.m.

The session marks one of the first times credit unions have beeninvited to testify on a bill the bankers are backing. By contrast,at almost every hearing on legislation important to credit unions,such as a measure to increase the cap on member business loans,there are representatives from bank trade associations.

In addition to Cheney and Becker, the other witnesses are JohnKlebba, president/CEO of Legends Bank of Linn, Mo. on behalf of theAmerican Bankers Association; Salvatore Marranca, president/CEO,Cattaraugus County (N.Y.) Bank and chairman of the IndependentCommunity Bankers of America; and George WashingtonUniversity Law Professor Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Blaine Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer(R-Mo.) and has 47 cosponsors, including House Financial ServicesCommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.). Sen. Jerry Moran(R-Kan.) has introduced a companion bill in that chamber.

The tax provisions in the measure include the exclusion ofincome from agricultural real estate and mortgage loans fromtaxable income and extend and extend the five-year net operatingloss carry-back provision through 2011 for community bankswith $15 billion or less in assets.

The regulatory provisions include making it easier for theFinancial Stability Oversight Council to overturn regulations ofthe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and repeal the FederalReserve's authority to delegate some of its examination authorityto the CFPB.