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September 26, 2019

NAFCU advocacy ramps up amid banker attacks

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NAFCU's award-winning advocacy team is maintaining its pressure on Capitol Hill to defend credit union priorities, including responding to recent efforts by bankers to challenge the credit union tax exemption and seek nominal leases for banks on military bases.

In a letter yesterday to leaders and members of the House and Senate, NAFCU’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler set the record straight on the credit union difference as banking trade groups try to distort it.

“While the bankers continue to have the gall to attack the credit union tax exemption, they conveniently forget to mention how independent analysis has shown that the fines and settlements for wrongdoing by their members have actually amounted to billions and billions of dollars of tax relief over the years for the nation's largest banks,” said Thaler, who also pointed out that banks enjoyed billions in tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

In light of a successful NAFCU Congressional Caucus with hundreds of credit union leaders advocating directly with lawmakers on these issues and more, bankers have stepped up their efforts to discredit credit unions and the industry's mission by bringing a number of state bank groups to the Hill to attack the credit union message.

Congress is set to begin a two-week recess next week and NAFCU, while it maintains its presence on the Hill, is encouraging credit unions to contact their representatives and senators before they leave Washington and visit them when they return home. The association's Grassroots Action Center provides credit unions with contact information to contact their elected representatives in Washington and to set up local meetings, background information on the important issues and the tools needed to take action.

Two of the top issues credit unions should contact their elected officials on:

  • CU tax exemption: As bank lobbyists try to push Congress to introduce legislation to eliminate the credit union tax exemption, NAFCU's advocacy team has taken to the Hill to combat their false messages. The association's efforts have long defended the industry's tax status during tax reforms, and were instrumental in preserving it in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the same legislation that gave banks a $30 billion tax break (check what number we’ve used). Contrary to bankers' claims, the credit union federal income tax exemption benefits the economy to the tune of $16 billion per year. Not only does the tax status put more money into the economy, it also helps credit unions create 90,000 jobs. NAFCU continues to highlight how the benefits of the credit union tax exemption are a stark contrast to the more than $243 billion in fines and settlements banks have paid as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. Share how the credit union tax exemption benefits credit union members, communities, and nation as a whole through NAFCU's Grassroots Action Center campaign.
  • NDAA: A section of the Senate-passed bill would treat all banks, including large ones like Wells Fargo, the same as local, not-for-profit credit unions when it comes to nominal leases on military bases; NAFCU's advocacy kept it out of the House version. NAFCU has consistently shared credit unions' concerns about providing free rent to banks on military bases with lawmakers, and it has teamed up with the Defense Credit Union Council to advocate against including it in the final bill that comes out of the conference committee. The association's efforts led House and Senate conferees to drop the provision from the FY2019 NDAA. A campaign to contact lawmakers on the NDAA conference committee on this issue is available in NAFCU's Grassroots Action Center.

NAFCU fights to ensure lawmakers and the public see the real difference between credit unions and banks. Learn more about the credit union issues NAFCU is currently advocating on; sign up for NAFCU Today to stay up-to-date on what's happening on Capitol Hill.