April 1, 2025
Dear Credit Union Leaders,
Spring is here! As the March Madness tournament nears an end and Tigers' Opening Day arrives, here are the updates you need!
Advocacy
In Lansing, the state legislature has entered their Spring Break. The House and Senate are slightly staggered, so the recess will (functionally) last for two more weeks, with some committee work occurring toward the end.
In Washington, D.C., our entire industry’s focus continues to be squarely on the “Don’t Tax My Credit Union” campaign. As mentioned in prior editions, we know that our status will be under at least technical consideration as a “pay for” for any tax cuts, and the banks continue to push taxation of “large” credit unions – those with $1 billion or more in assets. The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee has begun the drafting process, and has taken it largely behind closed doors. As this process continues, our primary mission as this unfolds remains ensuring from the beginning that any bill that is drafted does not include credit unions of any size. A sign-on letter was sent to the Ways and Means Committee last week from many of their peers in Congress urging them to leave credit unions untouched in this process – the list of 20 Republicans and 16 Democrats included our own U.S. Reps. John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Rashida Tlaib. Pres. Trump has called for delivery of the tax cut reauthorization bill to his desk by early May, but the congressional process still has many steps to play out.
If you have not yet, we strongly encourage you to make use of ACU’s Grassroots Action Center to send an email communication to our delegation voicing support for protecting credit unions’ tax status. You can access a template email at:
Grassroots Action Center | America's Credit Unions – Click on “Tell Congress: Don’t Tax My Credit Union – It’s A Tax On Me.”
There are a pair of possible templates that can be used, and you can add to it to create your own unique note. Please share this link with your employees and volunteers and encourage them to communicate as well. For those credit unions that are willing, the link can also be shared with members; and our team would be happy to assist with any pointers on making that communication.
Since the issuance of the Executive Order “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," MCUL along with individual credit unions, America’s Credit Unions, AACUL and Inclusiv have advocated on behalf of protecting the federal CDFI Fund, which was listed in the Order. In the subsequent weeks, the U.S. Treasury Department and the CDFI Fund have insisted to the Office of Management and Budget that the Fund operates faithfully within its statutory mandate and that all 11 CDFI programs are statutory. Ultimately, OMB will ultimately determine the next steps on this issue, this was a very positive development in this process. Inclusiv announced on March 31 that they have filed affirmative litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Citibank, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to secure release of the embargoed Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) funds awarded to them. Six Michigan credit unions are among the initial round of awarded recipients for funding through Inclusiv.
For a full update on state and federal regulatory action, please see the “Reg Corner” update in this edition of MILeague Minute.
Grassroots and Advocacy Funding
Registration is open for MCUL’s State GAC! You can access registration and hotel information at mcul.org/mcul-gac. Stay tuned for information on the event on our website, and please direct any questions to DaeSean (DaeSean.Ashby@mcul.org) or Kieran (Kieran.Marion@mcul.org).
As mentioned in our prior editions, with regard to federal PAC permission agreements, please continue to keep an eye out for communications about renewal if you are still currently expired for 2025. We still need agreements from a handful of credit unions! Thank you to everyone that has already completed theirs and sent it in! Completing and submitting these forms is not an agreement to participate in any particular programs, and we will not solicit your members or employees without the permission of your credit union. This is purely a compliance requirement on our end. Please feel free to contact Todd (Todd.Jorns@mcul.org) or any member of our team with any questions.
Elections
There is still no news on any special election in the state Senate to replace former state Sen. Kristen MacDonald-Rivet, who won election to Michigan’s 8th Congressional District seat last November. The open seat covers Flint, Saginaw and the Bay City area. We will continue to monitor the movements of potential candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat that will be created with U.S. Gary Peters announcement that he will not run again. In the upcoming race for Michigan Governor, the “official” field so far includes: Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson (Democrats); state Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt and former Attorney General Mike Cox (Republicans); and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (Independent). As candidates for these seats formally announce (or depart a given race before the filing deadline), we will include them going forward.
As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions!
Sincerely,
Patty Corkery and the MCUL Advocacy Team
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