WASHINGTON, DC (October 4, 2013) -- Twelve Minnesota credit union advocates, including volunteers and board members, were in Washington, D.C., Oct. 1-3, during the Minnesota Credit Union Network’s annual Hike the Hill event. Attendees discussed several issues impacting credit unions with Minnesota’s federal legislators, including tax reform, small business lending and the regulatory burden credit unions are facing.
During meetings with the state’s Congressional Delegation, the group focused on tax reform and the credit union corporate income tax exemption. They urged legislators to protect the tax exemption in any potential rewrite of the federal tax code. Minnesota credit unions provide nearly $110 million in direct financial benefits to the state’s 1.5 million credit union members, translating into saving the average member $71 a year and the average member household $135 a year.
Another topic discussed with legislators was raising the member business lending (MBL) cap, which would enable credit unions to help more small businesses obtain loans. The Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Bill (H.R. 688, S. 968), which would raise the MBL cap, would allow Minnesota credit unions to lend up to $193 million in its first year of enactment, creating more than 2,000 new jobs in the state.
Attendees also met with NCUA Chairman Deborah Matz and Elizabeth Ellis, CFPB Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Financial Institutions and Business Liaison. Those discussions focused on the challenges credit unions are facing with conducting operations in today’s stringent regulatory environment, including those related to privacy notification requirements and credit union examinations.
“Hike the Hill is a great opportunity to meet with federal legislators and regulatory officials to advocate for our credit unions and discuss the issues they face,” said Mara Humphrey, MnCUN Vice President – Governmental Affairs. “The trip is always an important way of advocating with federal officials on behalf of credit unions.
The three-day Washington, D.C., trip included a legislative and regulatory briefing with CUNA and visits at the offices of all Minnesota’s federal elected officials.
The Minnesota Credit Union Network is an organization representing the state’s 133 not-for-profit cooperative credit unions serving more than 1.5 million member-owners in Minnesota. For more information, visit www.mncun.org.