U.S. Capitol
America’s Credit Unions on Wednesday released its 2026 advocacy priorities, outlining an ambitious federal agenda focused on expanding access, modernizing the credit union charter, strengthening fraud prevention, and protecting the industry’s long-standing tax status. The priorities, approved by the association’s board on Dec. 2, will guide the organization and its new President/CEO Scott Simpson as the 119th Congress begins work in January.
Simpson, who took the helm last month, said the priorities reflect months of input from credit unions and state leagues and build on a year of major legislative and regulatory wins.
“Last year proved the strength of the credit union family when we come together,” Simpson said, pointing to efforts that helped preserve the tax exemption, secure additional CDFI Fund support, and advance regulatory relief at both the CFPB and NCUA. “We showed lawmakers that credit unions are essential to our nation’s ability to thrive.”
Board Chair Patrick Pierce said the agenda ensures the industry has “a strong advocate in Washington” as policymakers weigh market-wide reforms.
The 2026 policy roadmap centers on three pillars:
Advance: America’s Credit Unions will push to expand field-of-membership access, strengthen financial literacy efforts, modernize charter provisions and advocate for a single national data security standard preempting state-by-state rules.
Empower: The group will seek enhanced fraud-prevention tools and reforms to the CFPB’s structure by calling for a bipartisan commission and appropriations oversight, and ensure credit unions have authority to innovate in areas such as digital assets, AI and next-generation payments.
Protect: The association pledges to defend the credit union tax status, oppose interchange restrictions and support a strong but right-sized NCUA regulatory regime with a full, bipartisan board.
Simpson said the priorities will be pursued in lockstep with state leagues and “we are committed to working cooperatively and collaboratively, from the federal level to state legislatures” in order to advance credit union issues.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.