Barney Frank (D-Mass), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told attendees at CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference that they should celebrate the fact that the pending financial services reform legislation does not include them at all.

"We are about to pass, I hope, the most significant overhaul of financial regulation since the New Deal," Frank said when he spoke on Feb. 24 "And it will have no significant impact on credit unions."

Frank said they had worked hard to keep the NCUA as an independent regulator for credit unions and imposing minimal fees. "We judged that since you had not been part of the problem, you should not have to pay for part of the solution," he said.

He also encouraged the attendees to work hard when lobbying their representatives and senators for their support on efforts to at least raise or remove entirely the cap on credit union business lending. He noted that a realistic prospect for Senate action, in particular, would be needed to convince other House members to vote for controversial measures in an election year.

"Unless there is the prospect of real action in the Senate, it will be very difficult to convince House members to take vote on a controversial issue, especially with an election coming in November," he said.