New Jersey credit unions this week were resuming a postcard campaign aimed at Republican Gov. Chris Christie to ensure he signs an enabling bill on his desk to allow deposit of public funds at credit unions.
The bill, drafted by the New Jersey Credit Union League and which has now easily cleared both houses of the legislature, has been awaiting the governor’s signature for three weeks though there were no indications he would not sign it, industry sources said.
Still, the Department of Banking & Insurance again voiced public concern about the bill following ongoing opposition from the state’s banking lobby.
The league said its members would be sending out 5,000 postcards to the governor’s office in line with a similar advocacy push using postcards it employed to try to win lawmaker backing last spring on behalf of the enabling measure.
The legislation as adopted would enable counties, school boards, municipalities and other local government units to use CUs as depositories.
Once signed, the bill would become effective probably later this year though language in the bill stipulates “a reasonable” amount of time for implementation.
The league called the postcard blitz the “second phase” of its grassroots campaign to win depository clearance.
“Credit unions are asked to have employees, volunteers and members complete postcards with their names and addresses,” said the league. Each CU is asked to affix first-class postage and drop each postcard in the mail.
“The pre-addressed postcards ask Governor Christie to ‘Let Credit Unions Help Lower Property Taxes,”’ noted the league.
