[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3357-H3359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TAILORED REGULATORY UPDATES FOR SUPERVISORY TESTING ACT OF 2025
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4478) to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to
permit Federal banking agencies to examine
[[Page H3358]]
qualifying insured depository institutions with under $6 billion in
total assets not less than once during each 18-month period, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4478
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Tailored Regulatory Updates
for Supervisory Testing Act of 2025'' or the ``TRUST Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EXAMINATION CYCLE THRESHOLDS FOR
WELL-MANAGED INSTITUTIONS.
Section 10(d) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12
U.S.C. 1820(d)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ``$3,000,000,000'' and
inserting ``$6,000,000,000''; and
(2) in paragraph (10), by striking ``$3,000,000,000'' and
inserting ``$6,000,000,000''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Arkansas (Mr. Hill) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.
General Leave
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill introduced by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Moore), H.R. 4478, the TRUST Act.
For many community banks across the country, the challenge is not a
lack of demand for loans. It is the growing weight of compliance costs
and administrative burden that has steadily increased over time--
dramatically in the years since the global financial crisis.
These institutions play an essential role in our local communities by
providing capital to help local farmers expand operations, support
entrepreneurs, and allow families to meet their goals of building a
house or doing a renovation.
Overly frequent exam schedules for well-performing, low-risk banks
take significant time and resources away from the customers and
communities they are meant to serve. The TRUST Act recognizes that
regulatory oversight should reflect the level of risk that an
institution actually presents to its shareholders, its depositors, and
the economy, obviously, at large.
This bill raises the threshold for the 18-month exam cycle from $3
billion to $6 billion for those institutions that are well capitalized
and well managed under the definitions of Federal regulators.
It is critical that we modernize outdated thresholds to prevent
inflation and economic growth from unnecessarily increasing burdens on
our community institutions. By expanding access to an extended exam
cycle, these well-managed community banks with a strong track record
can focus more time and resources on lending and serving their
customers rather than just being caught up in an endless cycle of
repetitive paperwork.
At the same time, the TRUST Act maintains robust oversight, with
Federal regulators retaining their full authority to examine
institutions and ensure the safety and soundness of our banking system.
By balancing effective oversight with reduced burden for well-managed
institutions, this bill allows community banks to better serve
families, farmers, and small businesses that rely on them every single
day.
Mr. Moore's TRUST Act is a targeted reform that promotes efficiency
without sacrificing accountability and ensures that our regulatory
framework keeps pace with the needs of our communities and the
financial institutions that serve them.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
to support Mr. Moore's bill, H.R. 4478, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4478, the Tailored Regulatory
Updates for Supervisory Testing Act of 2025, sponsored by the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Moore) and the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Torres).
This bill raises the asset threshold from $3 billion to $6 billion
for well-capitalized and well-managed banks to qualify for an 18-month
examination cycle instead of a 12-month exam.
Like another bill we are considering on the floor today, the SMART
Act, this bill incentivizes community banks to manage their businesses
well. If they do, they are able to get less frequent exams.
Congress last raised the threshold to $3 billion in 2018, which
covered roughly 94 percent of banks. By raising the threshold to $6
billion today, we will update this threshold while covering roughly the
same portion of banks.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Moore), one of our newest members on the House
Financial Services Committee and the former speaker of the statehouse
of North Carolina. Mr. Moore is the author of this bill and has given
great thought to how we advance the ability of our Main Street
institutions to serve our customers.
Mr. MOORE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for
yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill, the Tailored
Regulatory Updates for Supervisory Testing Act, otherwise known as the
TRUST Act.
Back home in western North Carolina, and in so much of rural America,
community banks are very often the only financial institution in so
many of our small towns. These are the banks that are helping a young
couple get approved for their first mortgage or sitting down with
someone who wants to open a business to be able to extend that line of
credit that they need to do so.
Our community bankers are involved in the community. They give back
to charity, as they truly are a part of the community and a key part of
our economy.
{time} 1550
Right now what is happening is these small-town banks are suffocating
under a regulatory system that just does not make sense. It is one-
size-fits-all, and it really makes no sense to treat a small, rural
community bank to the same exact regulatory and compliance standards as
you do with the really super large banks that you have around the
country. It is just not fair. They can't keep up with it, and it just
causes ridiculous costs that don't make sense.
The central issue that this bill goes to is to address the
examination cycle that these banks are required to undergo.
The way it works is Federal regulators routinely examine banks to
make sure they are operating safely and responsibly; something that is
extremely important. We cannot cut down on oversight.
Under current law, the healthiest community banks can qualify for
examinations every 18 months instead of 12 months, but the eligibility
for that relief is tied to an outdated asset threshold that was set
back in 2018 which has not been updated since then.
At that time, about 94 percent of community banks fell under the $3
billion threshold that allowed them to qualify for the longer
examination cycle. Today, because of inflation and economic growth
alone, it takes nearly $6 billion in assets to cover that same share of
banks.
Let's call this what it is. These banks did not suddenly become
reckless overnight or stop serving their communities responsibly. The
only thing that changed was the economy grew, and Washington never
bothered to modernize the rules.
That means that well-run community banks are now being pushed to more
frequent exam cycles simply because of an outdated number on paper that
no longer reflects the reality.
Here is what happens. Every hour spent preparing paperwork for
regulators is an hour not spent helping small businesses and helping
individuals who need to get access to credit. What has to happen is
this has to be updated. Congress can do this, and I believe they will
do this today.
[[Page H3359]]
Passing the TRUST Act would update the threshold from $3 billion to
$6 billion. What that would do is allow this law to reflect today's
economy, and community banks will continue to qualify for the same
regulatory relief that Congress originally intended.
Absolutely just as important, the bill does not weaken the safety and
soundness standards one bit. These institutions must still maintain
strong ratings, be well-capitalized and operate without enforcement
actions.
To someone who is watching at home today or hears about this and
wonders, why is this important? Well, it is important because if you
cut down on the amount of regulations, the amount of red tape, the
amount of money that just goes into the bureaucracy to feed this, if
you stop spending that money there, you have that money to put into
small businesses and to provide money to working families, folks who
need access to capital.
For that reason and so many more--I know this is a great bill, and I
appreciate the support--I urge the body's passage.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Community banks, including those that are community development
financial institutions, or CDFIs, and minority depository institutions,
or MDIs, provide access to loans for families to buy a home and for
entrepreneurs to start a small business.
This bill will help ensure more of these institutions can focus on
helping their customers.
I, again, urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
I want to echo the compliments of the ranking member on this bill as
well as the bill that we discussed a few minutes ago by Mr. Timmons of
South Carolina and Mr. Foster of Illinois. These bills speak to the
heart of how to let a Main Street community bank under $6 billion that
is well-managed and well-capitalized and let them do what they do best,
which is grow their business, serve their customers, innovate new
products, and serve those customers in the best way they know how.
Maybe they can even grow their loan pipeline.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, having worked in an institution of
that size, the number of personnel deviated from the tasks I just
outlined about better customer service, growing your business, serving
your community, attending the hospital board meeting, sponsoring the
local little league, that is all put to the side when you are in one
after another bank exam, which are frequently uncoordinated as in the
case of Mr. Timmons' and Mr. Foster's bill, or again the benefit of
having a predictable cycle, a tailored cycle based on the size of the
institution, as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Moore) proposes.
These have practical impacts every day for the American economy. A
bank under $1 billion in size of assets, Mr. Speaker, probably has 100
to 150 employees. In any exam you are going to pull off, I would say,
at least 10 percent of that total employment base with hours focused on
exam prep, exam service, and exam follow-up.
These have practical implications, and I want to thank the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Moore) for speaking out on smaller financial
institutions across this country to see the practical hands-on benefits
of this strong bipartisan bill that he has brought to the House floor
today.
I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the TRUST Act. Mr.
Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate on this bill.
EFFECTS ON DIRECT SPENDING AND REVENUES OF LEGISLATION
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Additional
Effect on Direct Information on Direct Link to Published
Bill Number Title Spending Effect on Revenues Spending and Revenue Estimates
Effects
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 4478.......................... TRUST Act............. Reduce by at Least Increase by at Least Would decrease net N/A
$500K. $500K. deficits by at least
tens of millions..
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Source: Congressional Budget Office.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4478.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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