Representatives from across North Carolina will converge on Washington, DC beginning this weekend as the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference gets underway. The conference, which features a full slate of nationally-known guest speakers and educational sessions, comes amid a dramatic time in the credit union industry.

"In terms of important issues on the minds of credit union people, I can think of no GAC quite like this one," said Dan Schline, who is NCCUL’s SVP of association services. Schline noted that the unfolding financial and economic crisis presented a range of challenges and opportunities for the industry as they share their stories with North Carolina’s congressional delegation.

Front-and-center is the NCUA Corporate Stabilization Plan, which has generated much feedback from credit unions since it was first announced in January. "CUNA has done a terrific job of providing updates and on a weekly basis with credit unions, and they’ve scheduled a special session on Monday morning to continue the dialogue," said NCCUL President/CEO John Radebaugh. He noted that credit unions were continuing to suggest ideas about how to ease the economic burden of the plan and that the GAC would, "most certainly continue that two-way conversation."

In terms of one possible solution that may emerge from Congress, the GAC is most certainly well-timed. HR 786 would among other things lengthen the time frame that the NCUSIF Equity Fund would have to be restored to par. "The bill would give credit unions five years to restore the fund instead of one, and that would certainly help the situation," noted Schline. "This is certainly going to be a hot topic of discussion as we head to the Hill on Wednesday."

While the stabilization plan is grabbing a lot of attention throughout NC credit unions, it is far from the only topic of discussion. Credit unions throughout NC have been voicing their opposition to proposed changes in the mortgage cramdown provisions. "Credit unions always want to work with their members to help them meet their obligations, but we worry this legislation may actually restrict credit to consumers at a time when getting a loan for many is hard enough," said Schline.

Finally, credit unions will be sharing their member business lending stories with members of Congress on Wednesday, but in a new and different way. Credit union members who have received business loans have shared their stories on video, and their stories will be delivered to each member of the NC congressional delegation. "We heard from small businesses, church groups, firefighters and EMS units throughout NC who got a business loan from a credit union when no-one else would consider their applications," Schline said. These entrepreneurs also called on Congress to lift the credit union business lending cap, currently set at 12.25% of assets (see above video).

In addition to the videos that will be left with each member of the NC delegation, a separate video was emailed to NC members of Congress earlier this week. All of these videos are part of the League's ongoing Real People series. Real People features the stories of people across NC who have been helped by their credit union. In addition to the videos, a print version of Real People will be left with each member of the NC delegation during the Wednesday Hill visits.   

Once again this year, the League will be recording video updates from GAC. Check the NCCUL web site on a daily basis for updates on the happenings in our nation’s capitol – and look for a complete summary in next week’s Weekly Update!