CUNA announced new legislative priorities for 2013 that includefour key agenda items: preserving the credit union tax exemption, reducing regulatory burden,engaging in housing finance reform and advancing credit unioncharter enhancements.

That marks a significant change from 2012, when raising themember business lending cap to 27.5% of assets was the primarygoal.

Why the change? Executive Vice President of Governmental AffairsJohn Magill said last year's atmosphere on Capitol Hill presentedan opportunity to get a vote on member business lending, aslawmakers were pressured to help small businesses. However, becausethe 113th Congress is expected to tackle tax reform, CUNA hasshifted its focus accordingly.

Additionally, Magill said while not all credit unions need ahigher member business lending cap, all are struggling with heavyregulatory burdens. That feedback from members, combined with theexpectation that new House Financial Services Committee ChairmanJeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is expected to give regulatory reliefconsiderable attention this year, prompted the reshuffle.

“I think you will see lots of hearings,” Magill said aboutregulatory relief. “There aren't enough votes to repeal Dodd-Frank,but I think you will see some substantive picking at the edges ofregulatory reform. Not a huge bill that overturns anything but bitsand pieces of legislation moving through Congress.”

However, member business lending will still have a seat at theCUNA table. Magill said CUNA expects MBL bills to be reintroducedin the House and Senate within the next few weeks by Rep. Ed. Royce(R-Calif.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

The decreased emphasis on MBL is news to Bill Crane, senior vicepresident of mortgage operations and general counsel for the $825million CFCU Community Credit Union. Crane attended CUNA's Nov. 27Hike the Hill event in support of member business lending. He saidMBL will continue to be the Ithaca, N.Y.-based credit union's toplegislative priority in 2013.

Currently at 82% of its MBL cap as of year-end, Crane said therestriction “really handcuffs our business in terms of being ableto lend to our business members.” 

Despite a lack of progress on MBL in 2012, Crane said he's notfatigued or discouraged, and said the credit union's executive teamand board recently agreed to continue pushing for an increase inthe MBL cap. In fact, when CFCU Community travels to Washington inFebruary for CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference, Crane said itsthree representatives will push MBL during appointments withelected officials.

However, Crane added that he wasn't aware credit union taxexemption was an issue and said should a threat arise in 2013, itwould become a top priority for his credit union.

Another shift in strategy at CUNA will be a more aggressiveapproach toward bank lobbyists. Magill said CUNA's opposition tosomething bankers wanted last year–an extension of the transactionaccount guarantee–contributed to the bill's failure. He citedAmerican Bankers Association CEO Frank Keating, who wrote in adaily news bulletin that in addition to politics, credit unionlobbying against TAG done “out of spite since banks have helped tostymie the credit union business lending bill…were insurmountable.”Magill also pointed to a mid-December report in Washingtonpublication The Hill that called CUNA and NAFCU opposition to theextension of TAG a “victory over community banks.”

If banks continue to oppose credit union issues, they can expectthat successful TAG pushback to be repeated, he said.

“It's not in the credit union DNA to oppose things,” Magillsaid. “We're cooperatives, and we cooperate by nature. But, we'retired of sitting around and taking it from banks, tired of takingjust the crumbs that are handed to us. We expect parity and we'regoing to fight for it.”

Magill added that CUNA received kudos from some members ofCongress for standing against TAG after bankers opposed MBL.

“We couldn't walk around the Hill without people saying, 'Way tostick it to the banks',” he said.

Independent Community Bankers of America's PaulMerski, executive vice president for congressional relations,said that's not what he's heard. Merski called CUNA's claims ithelped defeat TAG “preposterous” and said the bill was insteadtripped up by a procedural hurdle.

And, Merski said, the change in TAG position actually hurtcredit unions in the Capitol.

“A lot of members' offices were saying, 'What are you guysdoing, just opposing [TAG] for spite?” he said.

Members of congress were also irritated that credit unionscontinued to pitch MBL as an attachment to other bills, hesaid.

Merski disputed Magill's statement that Congress is asking for acredit union-bank package deal that benefits both industries, soelected officials aren't forced to choose sides.

“They want legislation that they can support that stands on itsown,” Merski said. “It just gets more complicated and difficult topass these types of combination deals in an attempt to appeaseeveryone.”

However, he did say bankers and credit unions could find commonground this year working together to relieve regulatory burden.

CUNA will also look to build upon a record-breaking fundraisingyear for CULAC, which exceeded $2 million in net receipts in 2012and attracted $3.9 million during the 2012 election cycle.