Legislative Update with Chesney

​Changing it up this week – focusing on three areas of advocacy: state; national; and upcoming advocacy events. 

by Chesney Garnos, Director of Political & Grassroots Affairs
 
Changing it up! I will be sharing THREE areas of advocacy for my weekly legislative updates. It will include a state legislative update, a national legislative update, and upcoming advocacy events you should be aware of.
 
State News
It’s another busy week in Pierre, as the 19th legislative day kicked off today. I will be in Pierre for part of the week attending committee meetings, as well as meeting with legislators and other government officials to continue to build credit union relations.
 
Last week, the House State Affairs Committee heard testimony on House Bills (HB) 1161 and 1163, which seek to update the Uniform Commercial Code. These bills address the use of a central bank digital currency, which was one of the key pieces of opposition from the Governor’s office last year. The Governor’s office did testify in support of these bills. Our current position is to support HB 1161 and HB 1163, which would keep us in uniform with other states from across the U.S.
 
Since the last day to file bills was last week, we now have the total number for this year’s legislative session, which comes out to 478 bills. Our team is closely monitoring and tracking 16 of these bills. You can stay up to date on the status of these bills by looking at our online tracker. Currently, we support 5 bills, oppose 4 bills, and are monitoring 7 bills. We recently took action on SB 95, which is one of the bills we oppose. An opposition letter was sent out to SB 95 bill sponsors, cosponsors, and the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
 
Congressional News
Over the weekend, Senate negotiators released the text of the $118 billion bipartisan border security and foreign aid package with support from key Senate leaders, but its future is uncertain due to opposition from President Trump, House Speaker Johnson, and potentially many Senate Republicans. Despite potential Senate approval, House Majority Leader Scalise stated the bill won't be considered in the House. Both the House and Senate are in session this week.
 
When it comes to our national advocacy, America’s Credit Unions has a busy week in Washington as well, writing in to multiple committees on the following issues:

• Read the letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing regarding its hearing on the housing sector’s usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Read the letter sent to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee about its hearing entitled, “Examining Scams and Fraud in the Banking System and Their Impact on Consumers.”
• Read the letter to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding its hearing about the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Hearings ahead for this week include:

• Tuesday, America’s Credit Unions will monitor a House Financial Services Committee on The Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council;
• Thursday, America’s Credit Unions will monitor a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on, “The Financial Stability Oversight Council Annual Report to Congress”.

 
Events
We have some amazing advocacy events and opportunities coming up!
Be sure to mark your calendars and save the dates for these events:

• GAC - March 3rd-7th (Washington, D.C.)
• Stack the PAC - May 14th (DakCU’s Annual Summit Larchwood, IA)
• Par for the PAC – July 18th (Rapid City, SD)

 
If you have any questions on bills at the state or national level, would like to contact one of our federal offices in D.C., or if you have any questions on our upcoming advocacy events, please feel free to contact me.

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