Representatives from Minnesota credit unions and the Minnesota Credit Union Network met with Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) and several other federal officials to promote member business lending legislation.
To help promote increasing business lending access, Minnesota credit union representatives traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for a Hike the Hill event.
The representatives and the Minnesota Credit Union Network joined 75 other small business and credit union representatives from across the country to encourage federal legislators to support two bills (S. 509 and H.R. 1418) that propose raising the credit union member business lending cap from 12.25% to 27.5%.
During their visit, the Minnesota contingent attended meetings at all the offices of the state’s Congressional delegation, according to MnCUN.
Chuck Albrecht of Mid-Minnesota FCU, Pat Brekken of Richfield Bloomington CU and Jeff Schwalen of Hiway FCU provided examples of how their credit unions have had to scale back lending.
“Not only does this cap restrict credit unions, it also stifles small businesses’ growth and restricts their access to credit,” said Mara Humphrey, MnCUN vice president of governmental affairs. “The purpose of these meetings was to emphasize that lifting the cap represents a significant economic stimulus.”
In Minnesota, lifting the cap would amount to the creation of 2,000 jobs and would make an additional $150 million available to lend to the state’s small businesses, according to MnCUN.
