Not so fast. After announcing Monday afternoon that a Senate vote on raising the member business lending cap was imminent, CUNA now says it’s not so.
About an hour after it said its Capitol contacts said a vote on S. 2231 would take place this week, possibly in the next 48 hours, the trade group said it now expects no vote this week.
The trade group’s executive vice president of governmental affairs, John Magill, noted “that there is always a good deal of uncertainty in any post-election, lame-duck session of Congress and that schedules can change, for better or worse, at a moment's notice.”
CUNA said it will continue to lobby for the legislation, which would increase the member business lending cap to 27.5% of assets from the current 12.25%.
In March, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) promised a vote on the floor of the Senate sometime this year. S. 2231 was authored by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and has 21 co-sponsors. The bill needs 60 votes to pass in the Senate before moving to the House for approval.
The House version of the MBL bill, H.R. 1418, is sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and has 142 co-sponsors.
More than 500 credit union and small business representatives will hike Capitol Hill Tuesday and Wednesday in a CUNA-sponsored event to push for a favorable vote on S. 2231.
Bank lobbyists say they will also be visiting congressional offices this week, opposing the bill. CUNA said the bill has the backing of the Obama administration, and the NCUA has told inquiring lawmakers it also supports the MBL cap increase.
