Credit Unions Successfully Hike the Hill

This week, credit union advocates from across Alabama, Florida, and Georgia travelled to Washington, D.C. to promote the credit union difference to lawmakers. In Hill visits, key issues included opposing the Overdraft Protection Act, opposing the Credit Card Competition Act, supporting the Credit Union Board Modernization Act, supporting the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and supporting the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act. Credit unions met with 36 different House and Senate offices, in addition to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Chairman and Vice Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

“LSCU’s Hike the Hill allows credit unions to play an integral role in the legislative process,” stated Henry Armstrong, President and CEO of Auburn University Credit Union and Board Chair of LSCU. “This year was no exception in that we had incredibly productive meetings with key members of Congress. I left feeling like we had made a real difference in moving the needle on important credit union legislation.”

“Credit union advocacy keeps lawmakers in our nation’s Capitol abreast of issues that could potentially affect our industry,” said George Glasser, President and CEO of Memorial Employees Federal Credit Union. “I was grateful to participate in meaningful conversations with congressional offices and regulatory agencies that will benefit credit unions everywhere.”

“After two years of virtual Hike the Hill’s due to COVID-19, we were excited to be back on the Hill promoting the credit union difference to lawmakers,” noted Chris Leggett, President and CEO of LGE Community Credit Union. “The significance of direct advocacy by credit unions cannot be overstated. Using our collective voice, we made a tremendous impact this week.”

Regulatory priorities included Regulation E, fees, fair lending, cryptocurrency, third party vendor exam authority (as proposed in the Improving Cybersecurity of Credit Unions Act), succession planning, and more. More on regulatory meetings can be found here.

Registration for 2023 CUNA GAC has opened and registration will soon launch for our 2023 state advocacy conferences. We hope to see you then!