OLYMPIA, Wash. - Even with no new laws or pending court decisions threatening credit unions to deal with, Washington credit union executives, League representatives, industry consultants and regulators gathered here for the Washington Credit Union League's annual Governmental Affairs Committee conference still wanted to keep a high profile at the state capital. In an atmosphere of tension heightened by the recent passage of Initiative 695 which among its provisions, freezes all state and local current tax rates and requires a voter approval to raise any of them, legislators are looking for friends.
Stacy Augustine, League vice president for governmental affairs, assured the conferees that legislators were eager to meet them and gave a quick rundown of pending legislation of interest to credit unions - a massive new state privacy act, with sections still changing daily, and a proposal related to giving credit cards to young people were the biggest ones.
"This is a three-latte morning," she said, her way of measuring how much coffee the Pacific Northwesterners would need to absorb all the information they were going to receive during the first half of the day.
It was also a three-speaker morning, with Carl Parks from CUNA's governmental affairs program visiting the state for the first time; Douglas Johnston, a Kansas State representative; and Marty Brown, former lobbyist for the governor and now director of the Office of Financial Management, imparting concentrated doses of political wisdom.
"The goal is to develop fear and respect among the legislators," Parks said, but he warned against becoming identified with one political party. -
mcintyre@viclink.com
