DCUC Urges Congress to Expand Access to Capital for Veteran-Owned and Rural Small Businesses

By DCUC Staff — September 1, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) today submitted comments for the official record of the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains’ September 2 hearing, “Fueling the Golden Age: Future Resource Needs and Small Business Opportunity.”

DCUC urged the Subcommittee to support policies that expand access to capital for veteran-owned and rural small businesses, provide targeted regulatory relief, and modernize credit union field-of-membership rules to ensure more underserved communities can access trusted financial institutions. “Approximately 1.76 million veteran-owned businesses employ 5.3 million Americans and generate nearly $963 billion in annual revenue,” DCUC emphasized, noting that these businesses are critical to local economies and will play an important role in strengthening America’s energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, and supply-chain capacity. “Veterans bring valuable leadership, discipline, and experience to the small-business community, but having a strong business plan is not enough if responsible financing is unavailable,” says Jason Stverak, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer. “Congress should ensure credit unions have the flexibility to responsibly put their capital to work for veteran entrepreneurs, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Removing outdated barriers to lending will strengthen small businesses, local economies, and the communities they serve.” Expanding Access to Capital for Veteran Entrepreneurs Federal law generally limits the aggregate member business loans a credit union may hold to 12.25 percent of its assets. DCUC explained that the statutory cap can prevent financially sound, experienced credit unions from making otherwise responsible loans to qualified veteran-owned businesses simply because the institution is approaching the limit. “The Veterans Member Business Loan Act, H.R. 507 and S. 110, would address this barrier by excluding loans to veteran-owned businesses from the statutory member business lending calculation. The legislation would not eliminate underwriting requirements, regulatory supervision, capital standards, or safety-and-soundness requirements. Credit unions would continue to evaluate each loan based on the borrower’s ability to repay and the viability of the business,” Stverak explains. “No veteran with a sound business plan should be denied a responsible loan because the credit union prepared to serve that veteran has reached an outdated statutory ceiling,” says Anthony Hernandez, DCUC President/CEO, Ret. U.S. Air Force Colonel. DCUC urged the Subcommittee to support the legislation, encourage additional cosponsors, and work with the House Committee on Financial Services to advance the bipartisan measure. Supporting Responsible Small-Business Lending DCUC also called for targeted regulatory relief that allows credit unions to devote more resources to lending and member service while maintaining strong consumer protections and safety-and-soundness standards. In its comments, DCUC called for Congress and federal agencies to reduce duplicative reporting and examination requirements, provide clear compliance expectations and reasonable implementation periods, conduct meaningful small-entity impact analyses, and regularly review regulations to eliminate requirements that no longer address material risks. DCUC expressed support for targeted reforms to Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, including measures that reduce disproportionate compliance burdens on smaller financial institutions while preserving the law’s fair-lending and community-development objectives. Among its recommendations, DCUC encouraged Congress and the Small Business Administration to modernize credit union participation in the SBA 7(a) Loan Program by simplifying requirements, improving technical assistance, and removing administrative barriers that discourage credit union participation. Expanding Financial Access in Rural Communities “Regulatory relief alone will not solve the access problem if credit unions remain legally prohibited from serving communities that need financial services,” reminded Stverak. In rural communities, residents and small-business owners may face limited lender options, long travel distances, and declining access to personalized financial services. DCUC stressed that outdated field-of-membership restrictions can prevent capable credit unions from serving nearby communities even when they have the capital, infrastructure, technology, and local relationships to do so. “This problem is particularly important in communities surrounding military installations, National Guard facilities, defense-related employers, and other areas where military and civilian economies are deeply connected. Congress should reintroduce and enact field-of-membership legislation modeled on previous proposals to expand financial access in underserved communities and banking deserts,” DCUC wrote. “Access to capital and access to financial institutions are fundamental to economic opportunity,” Hernandez adds. “Credit unions are ready to serve more veteran entrepreneurs, rural businesses, and underserved communities. Congress can help make that possible by removing outdated barriers while preserving the accountability and protections that borrowers and communities deserve.” DCUC emphasized that expanding credit union access would not require federal spending or guarantee approval of every proposed expansion. Instead, it would give qualified, regulated institutions greater opportunity to compete for the communities and small businesses they are equipped to serve.

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Originally reported by DCUC.