CUNA and NAFCU have been petitioning Congress to add language expanding credit union ability to offer member business loans to two jobs bills that are making their way through the legislative process.

CUNA has written Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) in support of including Sen. Mark Udall's (D-Colo.) Small Business Lending Enhancement Act (S. 509) in whatever job and economic stimulus bill that the Senate might pass.

“The legislation enjoys bipartisan support in the Senate and the House as well as the endorsement of the Department of Treasury,” CUNA wrote in its March 6 letter. “We estimate that if this bill became law, credit unions could lend an additional $13 billion to small businesses, helping them create 140,000 new jobs in the first year after enactment, at no cost to taxpayers.”