WASHINGTON—CUNA sent a letter to the House in support of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Act of Fiscal Year 2017.
Writing to leaders of the Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle thanked the committees for the legislation that would block enforcement of the Department Of Labor’s (DoL) overtime final rule.
Nussle pointed out that DoL’s overtime final rule “not only creates regulatory burdens for credit unions since a disproportional percentage of their employees are swept into the new threshold which has been nearly doubled, but it will also create unintended negative consequences for those it aims to help, as well as credit union members. Credit unions in rural and underserved areas, as well as small credit unions particularly will face compliance and regulatory burdens as a result of the rule. As such, we believe this legislation is appropriate until the DoL provides a rule that impacts a more reasonable percentage of credit union employees, has a more proportional cost benefit analysis, and has fewer unintended consequences.”
Nussle continued, saying, “In the United States, there are approximately 2,700 credit unions with five or fewer employers, nearly 3,000 with less than $20 million in assets, and approximately 4,000 with less than $50 million in assets. Notably, 35% of all credit unions have no employees making salaries over the DoL's threshold. In certain areas, and at credit unions with smaller asset sizes, even chief executive officers can make below the threshold or approximately $50,000. To illustrate the massive impact this rule will have on credit union operations it is important to understand that among credit unions with less than $10 million in assets, almost all CEOs make less than $50,000 and among those with $10 to $20 million in assets, roughly half of CEOs make less than $50,000. Approximately, 46% of all credit union CEOs work at credit unions with $20 million or less in total assets. As such, there is no question credit union operations will be impacted by this rule.”