{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davidson.house.gov/2026/9/davidson-s-bill-to-protect-borrowers-freedom-to-shop-for-loans-passes-committee", "Davidson's Bill to Protect Borrowers' Freedom to Shop for Loans Passes Committee", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Warren Davidson", "D000626", "davidson.house.gov", "davidson", "https://davidson.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, the House Financial Services Committee passed Representative Warren Davidson\u2019s (R-OH) American Lending Fairness Act of 2026 (H.R. 7866). This legislation stops states from forcing their own interest rate limits onto loans made by banks and credit unions chartered in other states.\n\n\"Borrowers should be free to shop for whatever loan works best for them, regardless of which state the lender is chartered in,\u201d said Davidson. \u201cMy American Lending Fairness Act protects that freedom by putting state-chartered banks and credit unions on equal footing with the largest national banks. When more lenders compete for business, borrowers get better rates. I'm proud to see this bill move forward, and I look forward to a full House vote.\"\n\nRead the full text of the bill HERE.\n\nWatch Davidson\u2019s remarks HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA) was enacted to deregulate deposit-rate limits, extend the Federal Reserve\u2019s monetary policy reach across depository institutions, and make competition fairer amongst banks and credit unions. Today, two sections of DIDMCA, Section 521 and Section 525, are prevalent in discussion of usury laws.\n\nSection 521: Allows FDIC-insured, state-chartered banks charge the interest rate allowed in their home state, or a specified federal alternative, despite conflicting state usury caps.\n\nSection 525: Allows a state to expressly opt out of Section 521\u2019s interest-rate rules for loans \u201cmade in\u201d that state.\n\nThe Issue: The legal meaning for the term \u201cmade in\u201d is highly disputed. The key question is whether a loan is \u201cmade in\u201d a state based on the bank\u2019s location and lending activity, the borrower\u2019s location, or both. This distinction determines whether a state\u2019s DIDMCA opt-out can limit an out-of-state state-chartered bank\u2019s interest rate for loans to that state\u2019s residents.\n\nThe Fix: The American Lending Fairness Act of 2026 would eliminate the dispute over where a loan is \u201cmade in\u201d by replacing DIDMCA\u2019s Section 525 opt-out framework. Under this bill, a state could cap rates charged by institutions it charters, but it could not use its opt-out to restrict an out-of-state state-chartered bank or credit union lending to that state\u2019s residents.\n\nWhy it Matters: A borrower-location rule could enable every opt-out state to impose its own interest rate cap on loans to its residents from state-chartered banks nationwide. This would undercut the federal rate exportation parity DIDMCA gave state banks relative to national banks.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davidson.house.gov/2026/9/davidson-s-bill-to-protect-borrowers-freedom-to-shop-for-loans-passes-committee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.59777095541358, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}