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Ensuring credit unions can continue to grow and thrive in the competitive financial services industry is NAFCU's mission, and the association's 2019 priorities – unveiled today – will guide its efforts to obtain a regulatory environment in which growth is the priority.

"Our commitment to serving you and representing you before policymakers as your Washington Watchdog is personal," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "For me, the NAFCU Board and staff, this means we will stop at nothing to ensure a legislative and regulatory environment that promotes health and viability for your institutions."

NAFCU lobbyists are on Capitol Hill today for the swearing in of the 116th Congress. The association will meet with new and returning lawmakers to share its 2019 priorities and pursue opportunities to work on legislative solutions to some of the industry's most pressing issues.

Building upon NAFCU's five tenets, which have steered the industry toward countless wins in the past year, the association's 2019 priorities include:

• Growth: supporting legislation and regulation that helps credit unions grow membership, loans and revenue.

• Strong NCUA: pressing for NCUA to be the sole industry regulator, including by exempting credit unions from Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection oversight, and fostering strong relationships with NCUA board members to ensure credit unions' voices and concerns are heard.

• Transparency: encouraging government accountability, including reducing NCUA's overall operating budget, reforming the bureau structure and getting additional National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) distributions for credit unions.

• Regulatory relief: fighting for clear, streamlined regulation that allows credit unions to put more resources toward serving members.

• Tax exemption: preserving the credit union tax exemption to save U.S. consumers $16 billion annually, protect nearly 1 million jobs, and keep the focus on members, not profits.

• Fair and innovative market: pushing back against big banks, promoting innovation, and creating national data and cybersecurity standards.

NAFCU's award-winning advocacy efforts – supported by credit union feedback and involvement – led to progress on a number of priorities in 2018. Some highlights include:

• securing the credit union industry's first meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, which helped ensure the president's support of the NAFCU-backed Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), which was enacted in May;

• testifying before 12 congressional panels during the 115th Congress on issues critical to credit unions, including housing finance reform, access to small business loan programs and Bank Secrecy Act relief.

• supporting credit unions facing meritless lawsuits due to unclear website accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and overdraft fees.

NAFCU will remain personally invested in credit unions' growth and success by providing members with exceptional advocacy and member service, as well as access to the resources and connections needed to keep growing.