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NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler yesterday urged a House Small Business subcommittee to adopt legislation that would raise credit unions' member business lending cap as proposed in H.R. 688, the "Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act."

Thaler wrote the House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce leadership Wednesday, ahead of today's hearing, "The Decline in Business Formation: Implications for Entrepreneurship and the Economy."

"As the economy recovers, credit unions continue to serve as an important resource for small businesses to obtain capital, oftentimes in the event that they have been turned away from other financial service providers," Thaler wrote to subcommittee Chairman Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., and Ranking Member Grace Meng, D-N.Y. "While credit unions are equipped to help small businesses, their efforts, unfortunately, are severely hindered by the arbitrary credit union member business lending cap. This cap is denying our nation's small businesses all the tools they need to grow and spur economic activity such as job creation."

Thaler said both Treasury and NCUA have signed off on H.R. 688, introduced by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., which he said would "create jobs without spending a single dime of taxpayer funds."

Thaler also said credit unions need access to supplemental forms of capital and urged action on H.R. 719, the "Capital Access for Small Businesses and Jobs Act of 2013," introduced by Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Brad Sherman, D-Calif.