Rose Bartolomucci, president/CEO of the $114 million TowpathCredit Union in Akron, Ohio, urged Congress to pass several piecesof legislation that CUNA has argued would ease regulatory burden oncredit unions.

Bartolomucci, testifying before the House Committee on FinancialServices on behalf of CUNA, said H.R. 3584 would helpstate-chartered, privately insured credit unions by allowing themto apply for membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

“Some state-chartered credit unions are privately insured andunder current law, cannot apply for membership to the Federal HomeLoan Bank System. Permitting these few credit unions to apply formembership to the Federal Home Loan Bank System would help themserve the financial needs of their members,” she said.

“Many credit unions keep their loans in portfolio or make loanswith unique characteristics that do not always meet the big bank'cookie cutter' models,” she added.

If passed, Bartolomucci said, the legislation would not cause asignificant number of credit unions to switch from federal toprivate insurance.

She also advocated for passage of the CFPB Rural DesignationPetition and Correction Act.

“This legislation would direct the CFPB to establish anapplication process determining whether a county should be designated as a rural area if the CFPB has not designated it asone,” she said.

“The concern CUNA has with the definition in the current rule isthat many credit unions make loans to those in rural communities,but the credit union itself may not be based in those communities.If the definition of “rural” does not change, these institutionswill be limited in the types of products they can offer theirmembers in these areas.”

In her testimony, Bartolomucci also mentioned a bill thatRep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chairman of theSubcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, isworking on to eradicate duplicative regulations on creditunions.

The bill would accomplish this by directing the federalfinancial regulators to examine existing federal regulations todetermine any interaction with a proposed new regulation.

“The considerations the regulator would be required to makeunder this legislation include assessing whether the proposedregulation or order is in conflict, inconsistent or duplicativewith other federal regulations and orders or if it is simplyoutdated,” said Bartolomucci, a member of the CFPB Credit Union Advisory Council.

“The legislation also directs the regulators to take allavailable measures under current law to resolve any duplicative orinconsistent existing regulation or order with any proposedregulation or order before issuing the final regulation or order,”the Ohio credit union CEO said.