Thank you for making 2019 CUNA GAC a huge success!

What a week at the 2019 CUNA GAC! Over 5,200 of us came together in Washington, harnessed our cooperative superpowers and made our collective voices heard. Not only did the Administration, Congress and regulators come to GAC, you put 360-degree advocacy to work by blanketing Capitol Hill. Everyone knows when the credit unions are in town because you can’t miss us – we’re everywhere!  

Our phenomenal guest speakers from both sides of the aisle made the same point – if you’re not in Washington telling your story, someone else can frame your issues. That’s why CUNA GAC is so important. Having thousands of you here to tell your story and share the credit union difference with your lawmakers makes an impact. This week, we met with longtime Congressional credit union champions and also brought new members into our movement.  

But GAC isn’t just about the Hill hike. We welcomed great speakers, we networked, we discussed key issues and we came together to collaborate only as our industry – our movement – can do.  

It’s truly amazing to see the interest we get from policymakers and speakers of all kinds. We were honored to share the stage with keynote speakers, including Vice President of the United State Mike Pence, former Secretary of State John Kerry, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, writer Malcom Gladwell and explorer Alison Levine. We were also joined by NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters and board member Rick Metsger and many Members of Congress, including Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) and Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.).  

You heard from myself and others from CUNA about what we’re doing to help you best serve your members – including our 360-degree advocacy agenda and the Awareness Initiative’s Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union? campaign. Over 425 contributing organizations have pledged more than $30 million to Open Your Eyes, and we’ve alreadyreached 4 million Americans in the early days of the campaign.  

And there’s more! This week we…

• Hiked Capitol Hill and shared the credit union difference with lawmakers from all 50 states
• Featured our Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union? photo booth in the exhibit hall where we took attendee photos every 80 seconds! (Still need to download your new social media profile pic? Click here, select ‘view photos’ and then CUNA2019, and enter password cunapix2019)
• Met with CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger and raised concerns with one-size-fits-all regulations
• Welcomed our new CUNA Chair Brett Martinez, President & CEO of Redwood Credit Union
• Held engaging breakout sessions
• Networked together 
• Honored superstars in the industry
• Introduced over 100 young professional crashers to the year’s biggest credit union event 
• Experienced the largest exhibit hall in all of financial services
• Recorded credit union difference stories on the L-Street bridge

When I say we were all over town, I really mean it! We placed six think pieces in various media outlets on major credit union advocacy priorities, and GAC generated hundreds of media mentions. People used the official conference hashtag #CUNAGAC over 2,700 times, trending us on Twitter! And our social live streamed events were viewed by over 240,000 people, including live coverage of the Vice President’s speech on C-SPAN, Fox News and ABC News’ Facebook stream! Our GAC app was downloaded by 71% of attendees and gained nearly 7,500 likes on posts. We also had both digital and traditional Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union? ads strategically placed around Washington.  

It has been an incredible week and couldn’t have be done without the energy and support of all our attendees. Thank you to everyone that joined us in Washington and followed our coverage at home. I encourage everyone to stay in touch with us throughout the year and block off your calendars for 2020 CUNA GAC February 23-27!

MORE NEWS FROM WASHINGTON

New CRA bill removes credit unions from compliance Sen. Elizabeth Warren has introduced a revised bill to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Last year, the Senator released a bill that included credit unions in CRA compliance. After many conversations with CUNA, Leagues and credit unions, Sen. Warren revised her bill for its latest introduction, acknowledging that credit unions are different than banks and are already driven by our mission and existing regulations to support underserved communities.

Bill would allow credit unions to legally bank cannabis companies

CUNA applauds lawmakers for introducing the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would bring cannabis banking into legal status. Last month, Rachel Pross, chief risk officer at Maps CU, Salem, Ore., testified on CUNA’s behalf before a House Financial Services subcommittee to share why legal status is such a critical issue.

NCUA board gets confirmations and holds board meeting

This week, the Senate Banking Committee confirmed Rodney Hood and Todd Harper to serve on the board of NCUA. The confirmations give NCUA a full three-person board for the first time since April 2016. Earlier, the agency also held its monthly board meeting. The board received a quarterly briefing on the status of the Share Insurance Fund and adopted a final rule regarding loans to members.

Maturity limit increase critical to FCUA modernization

Longer maturity limits for federal credit union loans (FCUA) would allow credit unions to better service members. We sent a comment letter to Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) after they introduced a bill, H.R. 1661, that would amend the Federal Credit Union Act.CUNA ENGAGES WITH CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS THIS WEEK

Director Kraninger testifies before the Senator Finance Committee

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger testified before the Senate Finance Committee. CUNA sent a letter for the record urging the Director to fix one-size-fits-all regulations.

 Financial services committee considers flood insurance reauthorization

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on reauthorization strategies for the National Flood Insurance Program. Thank you for your continued participation in and engagement with the CUNA/League system. As ever, if you have any issues you'd like CUNA to address, I encourage you to give me a call directly at 202-508-6745 or email me at [email protected].  

All the best,

Jim Nussle

President/CEO

Credit Union National Association