I would like to respond to Mr. Cary Anderson's letter to the editor regarding payday lenders. I contacted Mr. Anderson this morning and discussed the letter that he wrote and appeared in the April 4th edition. I made Mr. Anderson aware that New Mexico Credit Unions had no part in the payday lending bill. The only role the Credit Union Association of New Mexico played was to monitor the situation very closely to make sure that any legislation under consideration did not include credit unions. We were successful in that effort since the bill exempts credit unions. Mr. Anderson's observations of New Mexico credit unions helping to write the bill are absolutely erroneous. We were not involved in the drafting or final version of the compromise bill that passed the House and Senate. The association's position on payday lending is that we do not support any lending practice that intentionally targets any disadvantaged borrower. We as an association state our position and then work to protect the interests of all our member credit unions.

Thank you for setting the record straight. William Jacobs Chairman Credit Union Association of New Mexico President/CEO White Sands Federal Credit Union Las Cruces, N.M.