MADISON, Wis. — In separate actions Tuesday, the Wisconsin Bankers Association insisted Tuesday a bill introduced last week to impose Community Reinvestment Act rules on credit unions has plenty of staying power this session while also moving to amend the measure eliminating CUs under $100 million.

Without explaining changes to the bill, the WBA said the proposed measure would now apply only to those “large, nontraditional Wisconsin credit unions required to document efforts to serve lower income and minority consumers.”

The bill's lone sponsor is Rep. Mark Gottlieb, (R. Port Washington) who also is Speaker Pro Tem of the Wisconsin Assembly.

Earlier, the WBA blasted sharp criticism of the bill by the Wisconsin Credit Union League as so much PR “spin.”

League officials late last week called the CRA bill a desperation move by bankers to make headlines with CRA legislation at the state level and by “shopping” for lawmakers favoring the bank line.

A statement by Kurt Bauer, president/CEO of WBA noted that Gottlieb “is one of the most respected members of the Legislature. He would not have put his name on this bill if he did not believe it addressed a fundamental unfairness in the financial services sector.”

The league claims the CRA measure has little support in the current session which ends in a week though WBA points out its bill can easily come up during a special session which may be held later in 2008.