WASHINGTON–With the 115th Congress now in its lame duck session, the credit union trade groups are working to see if any priorities can be achieved before adjournment just after Thanksgiving, while also working to lay the groundwork for priorities when the 116th Congress convenes in early 2019.
As CUToday.info reported here, CUNA has been putting a priority on so-called “tax extenders” in the current Congress, and it has joined with NAFCU in watching any of the various reauthorization bills that still need to be passed to ensure language isn’t included that is harmful to credit unions.
This week freshman orientation is being held for new members of Congress who will need to get up to speed quickly before being sworn in on Jan. 3 of 2019. This weekend the Republicans will elect new leadership now that they are the minority in the House, with House Democrats electing their own new leadership on Nov. 28.
“We look forward to working with 116th Congress on a credit union agenda, said Eli Joseph, deputy chief advocacy officer for Congressional Relations with CUNA.
Looking Back at Results
Looking back to the just-completed mid-terms, Trey Hawkins, deputy chief advocacy officer with CUNA, noted its political action committee spent $7 million supporting 388 congressional candidates, having picked winners in 349 of those (with several races still to be decided). That includes backing 45 winning freshman candidates out of 48 races.
Of the $3.4 million spent in the weeks leading up to the election on independent expenditures for 15 candidates, approximately half won their seats.