WASHINGTON — CUNA has taken Vice President of Legislative Affairs Dean Sagar out of the CRA rotation with the press so to speak due to his comments being misinterpreted and being used against the association, CUNA said.

"We regret having to take Dean 'offline' in terms of talking to the working press about Community Reinvestment Act developments in the Congress. With his long experience, background and insights, Dean is the only credit union advocate in Washington who fully understands the implications of this issue on credit unions, and is prepared to deal with the political imperatives of protecting credit unions from unneeded requirements," said CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica. "CUNA and its members, of course, will continue to benefit from Dean's work–unfortunately, readers of trade press publications will no longer be able to benefit in the same way. Again, it is regrettable–but necessary–to take this action."

The specific comments CUNA is referring came from an online Credit Union Times story this past Wednesday. Sagar was interviewed about H.R. 1289, The Community Reinvestment Modernization Act, where he commented on potential future CU inclusion in the bill. "It doesn't mention credit unions but my sense is that there is committee staff saying, if they pursue CRA, it would be on everyone…" Sagar said in the story.