Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Banking, House and Urban Affairs Committee, declined to specify whether or not he supports keeping the credit union tax exemption in place as part of a tax reform package.

CU Times approached Shelby Feb. 10 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and asked him if he thinks the credit union tax exemption should be protected.

"Well, I'm for fundamental tax reform. Some of you have followed my career. Basically, I was the first one when I was in the House to introduce the flat rate tax. I would start all over if I had real fundamental tax reform – that's probably not going to happen because the tax code is made of who can hire the biggest, powerful lobbyists – it's all an exemption so when you say tax reform, for whom, we ought to look and see," Shelby said after a Senate Banking Committee hearing on regulatory relief for small financial institutions.