The campaign giving patterns of CUNA and NAFCU in February could be best described as the calm before the proverbial storm.
CUNA's political action committee gave $79,000 to federal candidates and committees and raised $99,872.
NAFCU's political action committee gave $25,422 to federal candidates and committees and raised $5,405.
According to the groups' monthly reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, both committees have considerable funds available to write checks in both the primary and general election seasons.
CUNA's Credit Union Legislative Action Council had $953,506 at the end of February, compared with $920,486 at the beginning of the month.
NAFCU's PAC had $265,594 at the end of February, compared with $285,611 at the start.
CULAC's contributions included: $5,000 to the leadership PAC of Rep. Spencer Bacchus (R-Ala.), the top GOP member of the House Banking Committee; $5,000 to the re-election campaign of House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the No. 3 member of the congressional leadership; $5,000 to the campaign of North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R), who is running for an open U.S. Senate seat; $3,000 to the re-election campaign of Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), a strong credit union backer and one of two main sponsors of a bill to raise the cap on member business lending from 12.25% of assets to 25% of assets; and $2,500 to the campaign of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), whose panel has jurisdiction over interchange and other issues.
The NAFCU PAC's contributions included: $5,000 to the Blue Dog PAC, a leadership PAC for fiscally conservative Democrats; $5,000 to the Republican Main Street Partnership PAC, a leadership PAC for moderate Republicans; $2,500 to House Conservatives Fund, a PAC for conservative Republican lawmakers; $1,000 to the campaign of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D), who is seeking the seat vacated by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.); and $500 to the campaign of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the top GOP member of the Judiciary Committee.
--cmarx@cutimes.com
