ELIZABETH DICKSON

Advocated for policies impacting credit unions and financial institutions, including: Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: Supported continued funding, deployment, and modernization of the U.S. Department of the Treasurys CDFI Fund to expand access to affordable financial services in underserved and rural communities. Advocacy included promoting timely distribution of appropriated funds and ensuring credit union eligibility for programs supporting small business lending, affordable housing, and community development. Loan Maturity Limits: Supported legislative efforts to modernize statutory loan maturity limits for federally chartered credit unions, including extending permissible loan terms for mortgage and commercial lending to better align with market conditions and improve access to long-term, affordable credit, including S. 3616 and H.R. 4167.Credit Union Board Modernization: Supported legislation to modernize governance requirements for federally chartered credit unions, including S. 522 and H.R. 975, to reduce mandatory board meeting frequency and provide operational flexibility while maintaining safety and soundness. Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System: Engaged on policy discussions regarding credit union eligibility and participation in the Federal Home Loan Bank System, including H.R. 7647, the MORE Opportunities for Homeownership Act, to ensure continued access to liquidity and support for housing finance. CFPB Oversight and Reform: Engaged on issues related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including regulatory structure, rulemaking, and supervisory expectations, with an emphasis on ensuring regulations reflect the unique structure and mission of credit unions.

Advocated for policies impacting the broader banking system, payments, and financial regulatory framework, including: Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) / CTR Threshold Modernization: Supported legislation to update and index Currency Transaction Report (CTR) thresholds for inflation, including H.R. 1799, the Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act. Advocacy focused on reducing outdated regulatory burdens while maintaining effective anti-money laundering (AML) safeguards. Credit Card Interest Rate Caps: Opposed legislative proposals to impose a federal cap on credit card interest rates (e.g., 10 percent cap), citing concerns regarding reduced access to credit for higher-risk borrowers and disruption of risk-based pricing in unsecured lending. Interchange / Credit Card Routing Mandates: Opposed proposals to expand interchange routing requirements to credit cards, including the Credit Card Competition Act. Advocacy emphasized the role of interchange revenue in funding fraud prevention, cybersecurity, and consumer protections, as well as concerns about increased fraud risk and limited pass-through savings to consumers. Durbin Amendment Threshold Indexing: Supported legislative efforts to index the asset threshold for interchange regulation under the Durbin Amendment to inflation to preserve exemptions for smaller financial institutions, including S. 3849, the Community Bank Relief Act. Fraud Prevention and Scam Mitigation (TRAPS Act): Supported legislative efforts to address financial fraud and scams, including H.R. 4936 and S. 2019 (TRAPS Act). Advocacy included promoting interagency coordination, enhanced data-sharing, and tools for financial institutions to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. Consumer Financial Data Access (Section 1033): Engaged on rulemaking under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding consumer financial data access. Advocacy focused on data security, appropriate liability allocation, and cost recovery for financial institutions providing third-party data access.

Federal legislation and regulatory issues affecting credit unions and financial cooperatives, including consumer financial services, housing finance and mortgage lending, member business and veteran business lending and commercial lending authority, interchange and payments policy, taxation of credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, data privacy and cybersecurity, and regulatory oversight by federal financial regulators.