ARLINGTON, Va.—How will the 2020 presidential election and its propensity for dominating the agenda in Washington affect credit union legislative priorities in the coming year?
“It will make things more difficult, and certainly anything that’s controversial will be pushed to the back burner,” said Carrie Hunt, NAFCU’s EVP and general counsel. “A lot of members (of Congress) are also going to be in tough races. It’s just politics.”
Hunt said the key will be not to be distracted by all of the noise around the election and to instead maintain a “steady drumbeat” in advocating on its priorities.
One issue Hunt said she does not expect will be a distraction in Washington for credit unions is the acquisition of banks by CUs. While the bank trade associations are using the issue as part of messaging that argues credit unions no longer deserve their tax exemption, and while the issue did recently come up during a Senate hearing, Hunt said it hasn’t been one NAFCU staff have heard much about on the Hill.
“We’ve heard a few questions, but we are emphasizing these are voluntary transactions that keep a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution in the community,” Hunt said. “It’s become almost impossible to start a de novo financial institution. We want to make sure Americans continue to have access to provident credit.”