Georgia’s Own Credit Union’s Michael Sims Testifies Before Congress on Strengthening Small Business Lending

Yesterday, Michael Sims, Chief Commercial Banking Officer at Georgia’s Own Credit Union in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the House Small Business Committee on the vital role credit unions play in small business lending. The hearing, titled Driving Economic Growth: Small Business Association (SBA) Lending Programs and the Vital Role of Community Banks, focused on how regulatory relief and improvements to SBA processes and procedures could help communities and small businesses through the extension of capital. Sims, along with other financial institution leaders, testified about their experience in small business lending and fielded questions from Committee members.

Sims highlighted Georgia’s Own Credit Union’s success with SBA lending and the strength of the products offered. He stressed that while the SBA products are excellent, the processes and procedures could be streamlined in order to improve the efficiency of the SBA lending process. He also highlighted the importance of SBA regional offices and the critical role they can play in helping both lenders and borrowers navigate the SBA loan process and its complexities. He voiced his support for a repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) 1071 data collection rulemaking, noting not only the compliance burden and costs but also data privacy concerns and the possible chilling effect on businesses applying for credit. He also stressed how the growing volume of resources credit unions need to dedicate to compliance could be better utilized serving members and their communities.

In addition to SBA, several representatives asked about or voiced support for modernizing the credit union Member Business Lending (MBL) cap, specifically raising the dollar threshold below which loans are exempted from the cap. The CFPB as a whole was also a hot topic, with some committee members noting how the CFPB adds to the regulatory burden community lenders face while others questioned who would take up the mantle of consumer protection if the CFPB was not. Georgia Representative Brian Jack asked Sims about how the credit union’s tax exemption helps Georgia’s Own Credit Union serve its member businesses. Sims detailed some of the ways, noting that credit unions return $36 billion in economic benefits – multiples of the $3 billion estimated value of the tax exemption.

Staff from The League and America’s Credit Unions were on site for the hearing.