Congress Passes Bipartisan Heitkamp Bill to Boost Economic Growth & Protect Consumers in Rural America -- Bill Goes to President to be Signed Into Law

Statement

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp's bipartisan bill to boost economic growth in rural communities and protect North Dakota consumers. The legislation passed the U.S. Senate in March with robust support from Republicans and Democrats, and the president is expected to sign it into law later this week.

Heitkamp helped write and negotiate the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act over several years and introduced it last fall with a bipartisan group of four other senators, including Republican U.S. Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho, the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Heitkamp's bill would provide needed relief for community banks and credit unions so they can support consumers in rural areas like North Dakota, where regulations designed for big banks are making it harder for small lenders to provide mortgages or loans to expand small businesses and family farms. The bill also strengthens consumer protections for seniors, veterans and servicemembers, and those who are vulnerable or have fallen victim to identity theft. Several provisions Heitkamp specifically fought for were included in the final bill, including her bipartisan Supporting America's Innovators Act to help encourage and boost investments in small businesses and startups in North Dakota and across rural America. Click here for a list of Heitkamp provisions included in the final bill.

"Passage of my bill in Congress a big win for Main Street in rural America," Heitkamp said. "Too often in Congress, gridlock and partisanship win the day. But I worked for years to negotiate and write this bill with a bipartisan group of senators so we could provide relief for the community banks and credit unions that serve farmers, small businesses, and families across rural America. Reaching compromise doesn't always come quickly, but with perseverance and by working together, we can get results for North Dakota -- and that's how I try to work every day in the U.S. Senate. I appreciate the efforts of Senator Crapo and others who negotiated in good faith and ultimately came together to help rural America succeed while strengthening consumer protections for veterans and servicemembers, seniors, and everyone who faces the threat of identity theft. "

Heitkamp's bill has the endorsement of community banks, credit unions, and advocates across the state, including Independent Community Banks of North Dakota and the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas. Click here for statements of support for Heitkamp's bill.

Heitkamp's bipartisan bill would:

Improve consumer access to mortgage credit and reduce paperwork for small lenders;

Tailor regulations for small banks and credit unions to better reflect their business models and the needs of rural communities;

Protect consumers' credit by providing free credit freezes and unfreezes, and allows consumers to set year-long fraud alerts;

Provide free credit monitoring for all active-duty service members, and protects veterans' credit by prohibiting a credit reporting agency from including medical debt in reports;

Protect seniors by extending immunity from liability to certain people who disclose suspected exploitation of seniors;

Protect consumers from cyber security threats by requiring the Treasury Department to submit a report to Congress on the risks of cyber threats to financial institutions and the U.S. capital markets.

In the past 30 years, the number of community banks and credit unions have dropped by about two-thirds, yet more than 80 percent of North Dakota deposits still go to community banks, reinforcing that small financial institutions remain a key resource for North Dakota families. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that small business lending is down 41 percent since 2008.

The bill comes after five years of bipartisan negotiations that Heitkamp helped lead. In 2015, Heitkamp and a bipartisan group of senators came close to finalizing a deal, and she's been working to find a path forward ever since. The bill is the result of more than 20 Senate Banking Committee hearings on regulatory reform and economic growth since 2015 that Heitkamp has been part of, and more than 30 discussions she has had with top financial regulators about the issue.

Background

In the U.S. Senate, Heitkamp has been a leader in supporting local banks and making sure they have opportunities to succeed without facing undue regulations. In 2016, Heitkamp brought then Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to Bismarck to hear directly from small banks and credit unions about the regulatory burdens they face that can deter their focus on relationship lending. In March 2014, Heitkamp urged President Obama to carefully consider the concerns of community banks when naming a nominee for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and called on him to nominate someone to the Board who understands the lifelines community banks play in rural areas so those voices are heard. In August 2013, she brought Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg to North Dakota to hear directly from bankers in the state about the importance of local and community banks to helping small businesses and communities thrive.

In 2015, Heitkamp brought the head of the federal agency overseeing credit unions to North Dakota to hear directly from local credit union leaders about their concerns with potentially burdensome federal regulations, and to learn more about the positive impact these smaller financial institutions have on communities and businesses across the state.

Also in 2015, legislation introduced by Heitkamp was signed in to law to reduce unnecessary burdens on community banks and local financial institutions by eliminating redundant, costly, and often ignored annual banking notifications, and instead require banks to alert customers only when privacy and information-sharing changes actually occur.

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