House Panel Moves to Ease Rules on Small Credit Unions

A bill advanced to the House of Representatives by the House Financial Services Committee aims to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on community banks and small credit unions, the committee said in a Friday (Jan. 23) press release.

The Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act of 2026 (H.R. 7056) would do so by indexing several asset-based thresholds for bank regulations to nominal GDP for those financial institutions, according to the release. The bill passed on a 33-21 vote.

“This straightforward bill is another in a long line of bipartisan legislation in this Congress that modernizes the outdated statutory thresholds imposing needless and disproportionate burdens on our community banks and credit unions,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, said before the vote, in comments shared by the committee in a post on social platform X.

WATCH: @RepAndyBarr in support of H.R.7056:

“This straightforward bill is another in a long line of bipartisan legislation in this Congress that modernizes the outdated statutory thresholds imposing needless and disproportionate burdens on our community banks and credit unions.… pic.twitter.com/jeFzrWeEdP

— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) January 22, 2026

Barr said in April that he supports bills that will tailor federal bank regulation to financial institutions’ risk profiles.

This legislation was among six bills and a resolution that the House Financial Services Committee recently advanced to the House, according to the Friday press release.

“Cumulatively, these bills take steps toward reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens to allow businesses to focus on their core operations and protect the health and security of our nation’s financial system,” Committee Chairman French Hill said in the release.

The TRIA Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 (H.R. 7128) reauthorizes the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) to support the availability and affordability of terrorism risk coverage for businesses and insurers, according to the release. It passed on a 51-2 vote.

The Combatting Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act of 2026 (H.R. 5877) directs financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to improve coordination, information sharing and investigative tools to better prevent illicit financial activity linked to digital assets. It passed on a 54-0 vote.

The Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act (H.R. 1799) updates financial reporting thresholds to reflect inflation, thereby reducing compliance burdens on financial institutions while maintaining essential reporting to combat illicit finance. It passed on a 30-24 vote.

The Public Company Advisory Committee Act of 2025 (H.R. 6967) establishes a Public Company Advisory Committee at the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide a formal forum in which public companies can offer input on policies that affect them. It passed on a 39-15 vote.

H.R. 7085, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal certain disclosure requirements related to conflict minerals, reduces compliance costs for companies while maintaining investor protections. It passed on a 30-24 vote.

The resolution passed by the committee, H.R. 1007, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the use of artificial intelligence in the financial services and housing industries, acknowledges the expanding role of AI in those industries and underscores the importance of appropriate oversight and a pro-innovation approach. It passed on a 54-0 vote.