WASHINGTON–With numerous delegations from across credit unions hiking the Hill in Washington this week, the Independent Community Bankers Association of America (ICBA) has distributed a list of questions it wants members of Congress to ask their CU visitors.
A number of state CU leagues are in Washington this week, and NAFCU is also holding its annual Congressional Caucus.
The Questions
The “talking points” distributed by the ICBA for members of Congress and their staffs include:
- How much does your credit union pay in federal income tax annually?
- How do you feel about the largest credit unions spending millions a year on sports stadium naming rights?
- How often do credit unions buy banks?
- When a credit union buys a bank is it truly a free-market transaction? A credit union is tax-exempt; a bank is taxed. How much of an advantage do you think that gives you? What happens to replace the lost tax revenue from a credit union purchasing a taxpaying bank?
- Do you think bank purchase transactions are true to your mission or the purpose of your tax exemption?
- What are the costs to the public with respect to the loss of federal and state tax revenue, but also, to LMI households if lenders are not to held CRA obligations?
- Credit unions were allowed tax exempt status to serve “people of modest means.” What is the average income of your typical credit union member?
‘Kind of Comical’
“On one hand, it's not surprising to see the banks throw these warmed-over arguments at Congress, particularly because they know the credit unions will be out in force this month on Capitol Hill,” said John McKechnie, a credit union advocate in Washington. “It is, however, kind of comical to see the bank lobby doing this when we have supposedly linked arms on the credit card, interchange issue. That's an issue that is genuinely important to financial institutions of all kinds, and yet they try this kind of nonsense. Weak."