October 7, 2025
Dear Credit Union Leaders,
Well, we thought fall was here last time… The Lions are looking strong, and we have October baseball in Detroit! As the ALDS series against Seattle returns to Detroit, here are the updates you need.
Advocacy
In Lansing, state lawmakers completed the FY26 state budget, albeit a few days late. As time expired on September 30 to avoid a government shutdown, the legislature adopted an 8-day continuation budget to buy time for their final negotiations. Before the end of that week, a final deal was hammered out and passed in the early hours of Friday morning. The final version contains $5 million for the state CDFI Fund, up from the Senate-proposed $2 million and the original House budget that had no funding. In addition to the grant funds, an additional $1.2 million for “CDFI support” was made available in separate line, and our team will be working with state officials to see exactly what this will entail. In the DIFS budget, 8 FTE were eliminated, including 7 from the examination space across the agency; this was reduced from the original 31 FTE reduction initially proposed by the House. The agency will receive some new oversight requirements, but in essence avoided most problematic reductions and requirements.
On the policy front, our team now pivots to pushing for UCC updates that will benefit credit unions, and beginning the process of targeted MCUA updates. In addition, we continue to monitor for signs of state-level interchange legislation. In case you missed it, MCUL President & CEO Patty Corkery published an “op-ed” piece in the Detroit News responding to out-of-state retail lobby on this issue, which can be read at Corkery: Attacking 'swipe fees' puts Michigan families at risk.
In Washington D.C., the focus is also on budget and the now-lengthening government shutdown. As of Tuesday, no deal is yet imminent to end the impasse, and several failed votes on partisan proposals have occurred. As mentioned previously, during the last federal shutdown, many credit unions took steps to help their affected members with structured loans and programs. Both America’s Credit Unions (ACU) and MCUL are looking for examples of how our credit unions are helping affected members and families! ACU has also set up a Government Shutdown Assistance | America's Credit Unions website to share resources, along with a survey for credit unions to describe what they are doing in their communities.
Also federally, the following priorities are noteworthy:
The U.S. House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act in September, clean of hostile amendments on interchange efforts. The U.S. Senate continues debate over various amendment packages, and while majority Republicans seem to have settled on their priorities among amendments, Democrats continue to battle on several priority items. As noted in our prior edition, bipartisan support from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee existed for amendments related to the CDFI Fund and the Central Liquidity Facility, but the likelihood of adoption was not certain. MCUL, America’s Credit Unions, and the state Leagues oppose efforts to include harmful interchange amendments to the NDAA, and support efforts to add beneficial provisions that will help credit unions and their members.
In case you missed it, H.R. 2808, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act dealing with mortgage trigger leads, was signed into law last Friday. The bill prohibits a credit reporting agency from providing a consumer's credit report to a third party in connection with a residential mortgage transaction unless the transaction consists of a firm offer of credit or insurance and either the third party provides documentation certifying that it has the consumer's consent; or the third party has originated a mortgage on behalf of the consumer, is a current mortgage loan servicer to the consumer, or has a current specified banking relationship with the consumer (ie. is their bank or credit union). It will become effective next March. MCUL, America’s Credit Unions, and the state Leagues supported the bill.
Grassroots and Advocacy Funding
Thank you to our Upper Peninsula Chapter for joining in their first “PAC U.P. the Pub!” event on Oct. 2, to benefit our state PAC! Over 50 credit union industry professionals gathered in Marquette in support of credit unions’ advocacy efforts, and we hope to replicate and build on the success of this event in the future. Special thanks to our chapter leaders and FUEL Michigan young professional leadership for helping to make this event a success.
In the coming weeks, please be on the look out for information on the 2026 Lapel Pin program, also to benefit our state PAC. We are excited about the coming year’s design, and we are looking forward to another successful campaign as we enter another critical election year in Michigan.
Elections
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers still remains the only formally announced candidate for the Republican nod for U.S. Senate next year. There have been no recent additions into the Democrat’s primary race for the U.S. Senate seat, with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens as the announced candidates in that field.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson have all announced they will seek the Democrat nomination for Governor next year, along with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan seeking the office as an Independent. Former Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James, state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, and former state House Speaker Tom Leonard have announced they will seek the Republican nomination.
As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions!
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