By Ray Birch
WASHINGTON—Amid a transformative year in Washington, the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions are sending thousands of representatives to Capitol Hill this week to advocate for CUs and their priorities. At the top of their agenda: preserving the credit union tax exemption.
America’s Credit Unions Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt and Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak spoke with CUToday.info about the importance of the visits to Congress this week that are part of the annual Governmental Affairs Conference and Defense Matters meeting that are taking place in Washington. ACU’s GAC runs Sunday through Thursday, and DCUC’s Defense Matters event takes place Tuesday.
“With this new administration, new Congress and even a new dynamic within Washington, there has been a seismic sea change,” said Stverak. “So, there is a real reexamination of how things are done in Washington now. Within all this flurry of activity and change, if credit unions are not right out front, talking to Capitol Hill members daily, we risk having credit union issues placed on the back burner. That’s why this week’s Hill hike efforts are so important.”
Jason Stverak
Hunt stressed this year’s Hill visits are critical.
“And any time we have a new Congress after an election year it is incredibly important to make sure new members, in particular, understand the credit union difference,” Hunt said. “Making sure Congress understands the credit union difference is always top of mind for us.”
Hunt reminded that credit unions are actively serving their communities.
“And those efforts need to be top of mind for our policymakers,” Hunt said. “That's certainly reason number one for our increased emphasis this year. Reason no. 2 is we are in a tax fight and Congress is starting to put pen to paper relative to what that reconciliation bill is going to look like, relative to preserving the Trump tax cuts from the first administration and what is going to get added.”
Top ACU Priority
Noting that preserving the credit union tax status has always been a top ACU advocacy priority, Hunt said this year the trade group believes the threats (to the CU tax status) “are unlike any we've ever seen before. Everything is on the table. This is just a different threat level.”
Hunt pointed to the House GOP document that included potential ways to fund the 2025 budget that included the CU tax exemption. CUToday.info was first to report that threat. She also noted there has been another document circulated among members of Congress that values the CU exemption at $30 billion over the next 10 years.
“But, if you look at the other pay-fors, that figure is infinitesimally small,” Hunt said. “However, we know everything is on the table this year. We are concerned that as this debate goes on, in particular in the House and on the Republican side, we have to make sure we are not sucked into other pay-for programs.”
Hunt pointed to the new study ACU recently completed that shows how important credit unions are to the economy.
Carrie Hunt
“That's going to be one of our key points as we lobby on Capitol Hill (during the Governmental Affairs Conference),” Hunt said.
Hunt said ACU expects more than 6,000 attendees at this year’s GAC, and record numbers of CU representatives Hiking the Hill.
“Even though tax is absolutely our top advocacy priority and is going to be our key focus for the time we're here in Washington, there are other issues, too, which we want to make sure that policymakers understand. Fraud is top of mind for everyone. Credit unions are continuing to get just hammered by fraud,” Hunt said.
DCUC Priorities
DCUC, for the first time in its history, is having its members Hike the Hill this week, and has armed credit union leaders with key talking points.
“If credit unions are not going to be invited to the table at all key meetings in Washington involving financial institutions,” said Stverak, referencing a recent House Financial Services Committee retreat that included banks but not CUs, “then we’re going to be pounding on the door to make sure our views are heard.”
Stverak said an aggressive approach to lobbying is even more necessary this year with the credit union tax exemption at stake. As CUToday.info has extensively reported, 2025 is shaping up to be the toughest test for the movement’s tax break in many years.
“We have provided extensive advocacy talking points to our members who are participating with their leagues, going up to Capitol Hill,” said Stverak, who added that DCUC is sending numerous letters to Congress this week to support the in-person visits. “We think that's an incredible partnership that our members have with their leagues. We want to make sure they have the information that is specific to defense credit unions to talk about the issues in those key legislative offices—whether it's on the tax issue, CRA, protecting an independent NCUA, and the important role the defense credit unions play not only in their communities but across this country. We are making sure those messages will be heard loudly.”
Stverak said DCUC will be asking its members to address:
- Protecting credit union tax-exempt status
- Stopping CRA expansion for credit unions
- Preserving ‘one bank, one credit union’ on military bases
- Supporting veterans’ access to business lending
- Stopping harmful interchange changes
- Defending financial readiness for military families