NCUA May Open Budget Process to Industry Under New Bill

A recently proposed bill would require the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to hold public hearings with industry representatives as part of the agency’s budget approval process. NCUA is an independent federal agency with supervision over federal credit unions. There are nearly 6,000 federal credit unions serving 109.3 million members with $1.35 trillion in assets.

Traditionally, NCUA voluntarily schedules public budget hearings that allow industry and citizen input into the regulator’s budget priorities for the upcoming year. The bipartisan bill would make such hearings mandatory.

Similarly, the House passed a resolution earlier in 2017 that would force NCUA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to submit all rules to the Office of Management and Budget, an executive branch office currently led by interim CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, for approval prior to publication. That resolution has stalled in the busy Senate, but the two proposals are part of a larger push in Congress to bring more accountability to independent federal regulators like NCUA and CFPB.

Former NCUA Chair Debbie Matz expressed concern for Congress’ new effort to influence the NCUA, saying of the bill, “It is like letting the fox guard the henhouse. It is an attack on the core of independent oversight.”

The independence of federal financial regulators has been in the spotlight as a federal judge hears arguments on who should lead the CFPB until a permanent director can be confirmed by the Senate. Previous efforts this year by Congress to limit the autonomy of the CFPB include bringing the agency under Congressional appropriations, installing an inspector general at the agency, and even abolishing the CFPB entirely.