Ensweiler: Unity is Key to Avoiding Taxation

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – CUNA Chairman Dick Ensweiler, president/CEO of the Texas Credit Union League used the backdrop of the Minnesota Credit Union Network’s Annual Meeting & Convention last month to reinforce the message of the importance of unity among credit unions to fight bankers’ attempts to have credit unions taxed. “The only way credit unions will not be taxed is to stand together, and that means federal and state chartered, metro and outside,” Ensweiler told the 475 conference attendees at the two-day meeting April 15-16. Ensweiler spoke on taxation and several other credit union-relevant issues including the recent passage of bankruptcy legislation and the upcoming introduction of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA). He also used the occasion to praise Minnesota’s GREAT program – the Grassroots, Education & Action Team. Created in 2003, GREAT is the statewide grassroots advocacy program designed to preserve, protect and strengthen credit unions. Ensweiler said GREAT illustrates CUs’ grassroots efforts and the willingness for credit union members to stand strong against the banks. Warning that banks are “trying to control the agenda, trying to spin it to look like credit unions are evil,” he encouraged credit unions to tell their own story and be sure elected officials and members of the general public know why credit unions are distinct. -