CUs lend, bankers don't, says Texas league ad in D.C.'s Roll Call

WASHINGTON (3/18/10)--The Texas Credit Union League took the fight for increased credit union member business lending to the pages of Washington-based Roll Call on Wednesday, encouraging lawmakers to back H.R. 3380 and S. 2919.

The ad comes as the American Bankers Association holds its annual Government Relations Summit this week in Washington. Sure to be an agenda item on bankers' visits with federal lawmakers is opposition to increased MBL authority for credit unions.

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While "15 banks said no" to the Frescas, the family featured in the ad, their credit union approved them for the loan needed to start their own day care center. "Banks say no all day... Our credit union worked with us. They made it happen," Joe Frescas said in the ad.

The ad also highlights the lower charge off rates and responsible lending practices of many credit unions.

According to the Texas league's Winter Prosapio, the league "wanted to remind legislators of the key role that credit unions are playing for small businesses during these tough economic times. Knowing that the bankers will be in Washington this week, we felt that it was important to do all we could to prevent any unwinding of the positive member business lending work that credit unions have made recently.

"Our approach is to tell the story from the small business perspective. For them, the case for change is simple--we're just making sure their voice is heard," Prosapio added.

Credit union leagues from across the country stressed the importance of increasing the cap for credit unions' member business lending practices to their elected representatives during the Credit Union National Association's (CUNA) recently completed Governmental Affairs Conference.

CUNA has also directly promoted lifting the current member business lending cap of 12.25% to 25% of a credit union's total assets, a move that would increase the amount of funding available to small businesses by $10 billion, creating up to 100,000 new jobs within the first year following its enactment. This legislation would help stimulate the economy at no cost to taxpayers, CUNA has said.

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