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Media coverage of NAFCU ongoing
 NAFCU's Fred Becker pressed for CU regulatory relief, preservation of CUs' federal tax exemptionin The Hill Monday. |
March 5, 2013 – NAFCU's communications team is continuing to build on the association's recent wave of press attention, with coverage inThe Hill's Congress Blog,Bankrate.comandAmerican Banker.
NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker, in a March 4 post for The Hill's Congress Blog, touts NAFCU's five-point plan as "a carefully considered response to the barrage of overwhelming regulations being placed on the credit union industry." Becker writes that the current regulatory climate has created "a restricted financial marketplace with higher costs and fewer options for consumers – exactly the reverse of what our economy needs."
The swift introduction of H.R. 688, "The Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act," H.R. 719, "The Capital Access for Small Businesses and Jobs Act," and H.R. 749, "The Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act," – bills that would enact measures outlined in NAFCU's five-point plan – "confirms the confidence Congress has in credit unions and an understanding of the value credit unions provide to all Americans," Becker writes.
He also discusses the findings of NAFCU's landmark study underscoring the economic benefits to all Americans of the credit union federal income tax exemption.
Tax exemption, NAFCU study highlighted
Two other recent articles noted NAFCU's study of the credit union tax exemption. On March2, aBankrate.comarticle, "Banks on the Offensive," notes that credit unions are fighting back in the wake of recent print and radio attack ads from the banking industry. The author notes that credit unions provide "exactly the kind of help many consumers need." The article also quotes NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler saying a repeal of the exemption "would have a devastating impact not only on the 95 million credit union members across the country, but also on consumers in general."
A March 1 American Banker article, "ABA Launches Ad Campaign Fighting Credit Union Tax Status," discusses the bankers' attack campaign against credit unions and notes NAFCU's efforts to remind lawmakers about the value of the tax exemption. The article highlights Thaler's missive to lawmakers about the exemption, noting that its loss would "result in the loss, on average, of over 150,000 jobs a year over the next decade, a shrinking of the [gross domestic product] and a net loss of revenue to the federal government."