Successfully suing the Internal Revenue Service over theunrelated business income tax and serving as a test case for thecredit union movement might be enough political activity to lastany financial institution for several years.

That's not the case with Appleton, Wis.-based Community FirstCredit Union.

The activities of the $1.3 billion credit union, which hasbranches throughout a 13-county area in Northeast Wisconsin is whyit has been awarded the 2010 Credit Union TimesTrailblazer Award for Outstanding Political Action.

Three years ago when the credit union movement was looking for acredit union to become a test case to challenge what it saw as anunfair tax against state-chartered credit unions, Community Firstvolunteered.

“We thought we were right and thought it was important to makethe case,” Community First Credit Union President/CEO CathieTierney recalled. “The tax was unfair and it was also important forus to stand up for all credit unions, especially state-charteredcredit unions.”

Community First's staff worked with the industrywide UBITsteering committee to plot legal strategy that would enable thecredit union to win back the $54,604 it had paid in UBIT on salesof three financial products: credit life insurance, creditdisability insurance and guaranteed auto protection insurance. Thecredit union maintained that those are “substantially related” toits tax-exempt mission.

It filed the lawsuit on Jan. 15, 2008, and the case went totrial in May 2009. The proceedings lasted less than a week, and aneight-member jury ruled in Community First's favor.

The IRS declined to appeal, although the credit union stillhasn't received its refund.

As a result of the victory, Tierney and Community First becamethe toast of the credit union movement.

CUNA gave Tierney its Trailblazer Award last June. During thepresentation, CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica teased her that while thecredit union's efforts were of great help to the credit unionmovement, taking on the IRS might not have been a strategy thatmost business strategists would have advised her to take.

She also received the Pierre Jay Award from NASCUS.

While Community First's case was been winding its way throughthe courts, its senior executive team felt it needed to increaseits presence in other areas.

“As our assets have grown to almost $2 billion, we needed to domore to let people in government know about credit unions, and alsolet our employees become more informed,” Tierney said.

To accomplish that Tierney created a new position-senior vicepresident for government and community relations-and hired formerCommunity First executive Rick Sense to fill the spot. Sense, whohad been a political junkie since college, had left the creditunion to take an executive post at a regional office at GoodwillIndustries, where he successfully lobbied to give the organizationtax-exempt status.

Sense, who described himself as “having a passion for politicsand credit unions,” said the goal of his work is to have an ongoingdialogue with policymakers.

“It's not just about talking at election time or when issuescome up but the overall relationship. And we want to give electedofficials a chance to better understand what we are about,” hesaid.

To accomplish this, Sense set up monthly brown bag lunches forcredit union employees and volunteers to hear from their electedofficials. At each meeting, Sense starts out by giving an overviewof the political scene and highlighting issues that are importantto credit unions. Then the guest speaker makes a presentation andasks questions.

Sense said the sessions are bipartisan, and they are resoluteabout alternating between Democratic and Republican guests. Hejokes that they represent the “Credit Union Movement Party.”

The sessions attract between 25 and 50 guests, including peoplefrom area credit unions.

Wisconsin Credit Union League Vice President-Government AffairsTom Liebe contends that the lunches have had an impact on thebroader credit union movement in Wisconsin.

“Importantly, the depth and breadth of participation by creditunion staff members in the Fox Valley region has increasedperceptibly. This has yielded stronger participation in statewideadvocacy events and grassroots action appeals as a result ofCommunity First's efforts,” Liebe wrote in a letter endorsing thecredit union's CU Times Trailblazer Award.

Sense reported on the program as a “best practice,” during theleague's 2009 annual convention, and Liebe wrote that it is a “bestpractice that should be shared beyond the borders of our state aswell.”

Assembly Majority Leader Thomas Nelson (D) wrote that thediscussions at the brown-bag events are “extremely useful forvetting new policy proposals and gauging how the local economy isfaring.”

U.S. Rep. Thomas Petri (R-Wis.), who represents part ofNortheast Wisconsin in Congress, has spoken at a lunch as well.Sense said the lunch, and the regular contact that seniorexecutives of Community First have with him, recently resulted inPetri becoming a co-sponsor of legislation that would raise the capon member business loans from 12.25% of assets to 25%.

In addition, Community First regularly informs employees andvolunteers about political events and fundraising receptions andencourages them to become involved.

“We don't want political involvement to be just for the seniormanagement team. Our approach levels the playing field andeverybody can make an impact,” Tierney said.

In their discussions with lawmakers, they focus on theunintended consequences of legislation.

“We point out that there are lots of things that may soundgood-such as limits on overdrafts-that may result in people nothaving access to a service they want,” Tierney noted.

She said that the credit union has thought about starting apolitical action committee but hasn't form one, nor has it everhosted a political fundraising event on premises.

But individual staff members have made contributions. Since1996, Tierney has contributed $3,000 to federal candidates,according to data compiled by the Center for ResponsivePolitics.

On the state level, she served on the Governor's Task Force onFinancial Literacy, which worked with the Department of PublicInstruction to develop comprehensive state standards for teachingstudents at different levels about personal finance.

Sense has raised the credit union's profile by his own politicalinvolvement.

During the 2008 campaign, he volunteered in the campaign offormer Assembly Speaker John Gard, the GOP nominee for Congressfrom the 8th District.

Gard, who had run unsuccessfully for the seat in 2006, lostagain to Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Wis.).

But Sense enjoyed the experience and said it is important forcredit unions to get involved in politics at the grassrootslevel.

“Government works best if there is more involvement from peoplewho are outside the political system, especially if we can tell ourstory and talk about what we do,” he said.

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