A letter from CUNA CEO Dan Mica in The Washington Post seeks to advance credit union business lending.
In the letter, which appeared in the paper's Dec. 29 edition in response to a Dec. 23 story about banking and business lending, Mica wrote in support of the "Small Business Lending Enhancement Act of 2009," a House bipartisan bill to increase credit union business lending.
"The chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that regulates credit unions, supports legislation to raise the caps. Moreover, the change would come at no cost to U.S. Taxpayers," Mica wrote.
"Community bankers are quoted in the story as saying the real problem is lack of demand. That has not been the credit unions' experience. For the 12 months ending June 30, demand for small-business loans from credit unions rose 14%, according to the Credit Union National Association, while declining 8% for banks, according to the FDIC. If Congress and the Obama administration backed this legislation, credit unions could do more to help solve the small-business credit crunch without adding to the federal debt." he added.
