CUNA CEO Bill Cheney recorded this video appeal to credit unions on S-2231 on Wednesday.
After many years of grassroots advocacy by credit unions in NC and across the country, a vote on raising the credit union member business lending cap appears to be imminent. As such, the NC Credit Union League urges you to contact Senators Richard Burr & Kay Hagan and encourage them to support S-2231, the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Bill.
The bill would raise the cap on business lending to 27.5% (from 12.25% currently) while including important safeguards to ensure the continued safety and soundness of credit union business loans. "This is by far the most important advocacy alert since HR-1151 in 1998," said Dan Schline, the League's SVP of Association Services. "Credit unions emerged as a key political force during HR-1151, and the outcome of this vote will help to continue grassroots momentum on other issues of great importance to credit unions."
"Put another way," Schline said "this is a vote we simply cannot afford to lose."
As the push for S-2231 intensifies, credit unions are being joined by the small businesses that, in some cases, owe their very existence to a credit union business loan. A story in the Wednesday Charlotte Observer detailed the accounts of several business owners in NC who received loans from a credit union after their bank called their loan or eliminated their line of credit.
While Congress sits in recess until April 16, credit unions are strongly encouraged to respond to the Action Alert by going to the League's Action Alert Center. "The vote could come as early as April 16th," Schline said "so time is critically short for credit unions to engage."