February 17, 2026
Dear Credit Union Leaders,
February marches on, and America’s Credit Unions’ GAC is almost here! As March Madness appears on the horizon, here are the updates you need.
Advocacy
In Lansing, the state legislature continues with its slow start to the session. The Governor’s final State of the State address is approaching at end of this month, and the Executive Office’s budget recommendation is now in play. An interim appeal from a lower court decision that validated the House’s use of a statutory procedure to invalidate $600 million in funding for ongoing appropriations projects was rejected, and the lower court’s process must come to full completion first. MCUL will continue to champion our priorities in the state budget, including much needed funding for the Michigan Saves program and additional funding for CDFI credit unions, and will continue to look for additional opportunities to support all of our credit unions through various programs and services. Our team will also be looking for feedback from our credit unions on a pair of new bills that would clarify the impact of failure to timely record deeds related to certain MSHDA loans and foreclosure sales.
As mentioned previously, there is still no word yet on movement on legislation to expand investment options for public entities to include certain federal entities and momentum may be dying out on this measure (at least for the moment). We are drawing closer on targeted operational MCUA updates for credit unions, and we continue watching carefully for signs of state-level interchange legislation in light of last week’s legal decision (see below). Legislation is almost ready to modernize the state’s Uniform Commercial Code for updates addressing emerging technologies like digital assets, providing legal clarity for transactions involving virtual currencies and other digital assets, and other modernizations related to wire transfers and electronic signatures. The final vetting of sponsors continues, but the volume of needed bills in this package may present an obstacle to its passage in the increasingly tense environment this year. However, we will continue to position the bills for the best chance of success.
The biggest “federal” news this cycle isn’t really federal but comes from Illinois. Last week, the Northern District Federal Court of Illinois issued a decision in litigation challenging the Illinois state-law Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA). As enacted, the IFPA would impact card transactions for any institution across the country when one of their cards is used in Illinois. Unfortunately, instead of confirming protections in its originally-issued preliminary injunction for nationally chartered and out-of-state banks and expanding them to other affected institutions, the judge reversed course and ruled that the IFPA’s prohibition on the collection of interchange on sales tax and tips is not preempted by federal law for any institution. While this is highly concerning given the IFPA’s implementation date of July 1, the Illinois Credit Union League and fellow plaintiffs have appealed. One silver lining, financial institutions did prevail on the challenge to data-use restrictions and related penalties that would have barred payment processors, networks, and issuers from using transaction data for anything beyond processing the payment (prohibiting use for analytics, fraud monitoring, marketing, and other essential member-service functions). However, after further analysis, this “win” may not apply to state-chartered savings and loans and credit unions; whether or not that is enforceable or will be enforced is under active exploration by the league system.
In Washington, D.C., the first partial shutdown this year was brought to a close with passage of continuing resolutions for most affected budgets and a brief extension for the Department of Homeland Security. Part of that package contained full funding of two credit union priorities, with $324 million for the federal CDFI program and $3.4 million of the NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund. The government has since reverted back to a smaller partial shutdown as negotiations continue on the Homeland Security portion. Before leaving Washington, D.C., legislation to modernize the Durbin Amendment’s asset threshold was introduced in the U.S. Senate by U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Katie Britt (R-AL), and in the U.S. House by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) by indexing the Durbin Amendment’s current $10 billion threshold to inflation. The American Lending Fairness Act of 2026 was introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), and U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) to protect parity for state-chartered credit unions and clarify the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA), protecting export rights of state-chartered credit unions and banks.
Grassroots and Advocacy Funding
America’s Credit Unions GAC is approaching fast, from March 1-5 in Washington, D.C. As we do every year, we will host a pair of “Know Before You Go” calls on Feb. 25 at 10:00am and Feb. 26 at 3:00pm. Stay tuned for more details about events during the conference! For questions, please contact Todd Jorns (Todd.Jorns@mcul.org).
Thank you to everyone that has purchased a lapel pin so far this year – all signs are pointing toward a strong fundraising year! Thank you again too, to all of our institutions that are helping us by shifting to a payroll deduction system. This program is absolutely critical for our state PAC and advocacy efforts. Please contact Laura (Laura.Osminski@mcul.org) or DaeSean (DaeSean.Ashby@mcul.org) with any questions.
Thank you as well to all of our credit unions that have filled out renewed federal permission agreements. For those remaining credit unions that are expired and have not yet renewed, we will be in touch and we appreciate your help with this. Signing the permission agreement does not mean a credit union has agreed to participate in or run any fundraising programs – it is simply a compliance step related to MCUL’s ability to communicate about our programs. If you have any questions, please contact Todd or Laura.
Elections
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson remain in the Democratic Primary race for Governor, after it was announced that Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II pivoted to run for Secretary of State. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan still seeks the office as an Independent. Announced candidates for the Republican nomination include former Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James, state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former state House Speaker Tom Leonard, Rev. Ralph Rebandt, and Karla Wagner.
The race for the Republican nod for U.S. Senate next year includes former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Bernadette Smith, Republican activist Geneieve Scott, and dentist Kent Benham. In the Democrat’s primary race for the U.S. Senate seat, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, and clinical researcher and Rachel Howard are seeking to represent their party in November.
The Special Primary Election in state Senate District 35 covering portions of Bay, Midland, and Saginaw Counties will take place today (February 3), and the Special General Election on May 5. Democrats filed include Brandell Adams, Martin Blank, Chedrick Greene, Serenity Hope Salak, William Morrone, and Pamela Pugh. Republicans filed for the seat include Jason Tunney, Chadwick Twillman, Christian Velasquez, and Andrew Carlos Wendt.
As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions!
« Return to "Roundup"
