WASHINGTON – The fact that Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) proposed Amendment 1637 this weekend to protect the tax-exempt status of credit unions is a sign of growing support for preserving the CU tax break, the Defense Credit Union Council said.
As CUToday.info reported, Padilla proposed the bill over the weekend as the Senate worked on the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution, which passed by a vote of 51–48.
While Padilla’s amendment was not voted on, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said having Amendment 1637 proposed is a sign credit unions efforts to educate Congress on the benefits of the credit union tax break are working.
“We think the public declaration of support for credit unions from a member of the U.S. Senate is incredibly important,” Stverak said. “This speaks well for the advocacy and grassroots efforts that all credit unions have been doing over the past few months.”
“When DCUC last year started talking about possible threats to the credit union tax status, we knew we needed to get started early to make sure the credit union status remains unaffected by congressional actions,” continued Stverak. “We look forward to working not only with Senator Padilla, but also with other members of the House and Senate on a bipartisan basis to publicly get support for the credit union tax exemption as budget efforts move into the reconciliation process. I think the ball is moving down the field, but by no means have we scored a touchdown. We are in a political dog fight on this issue. That's why we're going to keep working very, very hard.”
As CUToday.info reported, DCUC has launched a targeted advertising campaign to defend credit unions’ tax-exempt status.