WASHINGTON—Marking National Small Business Week, which started May 1 and runs through Saturday, NAFCU and CUNA recognized the efforts of Congress and CUs to support small business.
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger highlighted credit unions’ work with member small businesses and NAFCU’s ongoing efforts to increase credit unions’ member business lending cap.
“Credit unions and small business have a unique, cooperative bond,” said Berger. “Small business is the engine that helps drive our economy, and credit unions are a great source of capital for Main Street businesses that promote economic growth and job creation.”
In February, the NCUA Board approved a final member business lending rule that removes the prescriptive underwriting criteria and personal guarantee requirements of the current regulation, and gives credit unions the ability to decide if a personal guarantee is required.
NAFCU said it is supportive of this change, but also continues to work toward a legislative fix to credit unions’ MBL restrictions. The trade association supports several bills in the House and Senate, including:
- HR 1133, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), which would exclude business loans made to veterans from credit unions’ MBL cap;
- HR 1188, the “Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act of 2015,” introduced by Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA), and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), which would raise the MBL cap to 27.5% of assets for eligible credit unions (S 2028, introduced by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Jack Reed (D-RI) would do the same);
- HR 1422, the “Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act,” introduced by Reps. Royce and Jared Huffman (D-CA), which would exempt loans to purchase non-owner-occupied, one- to four-unit dwellings from the MBL cap (similar legislation was introduced last year by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Berger also recognized the working agreement he signed with Small Business Administration Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, which promotes greater credit union access to SBA programs to help members.
CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle sent a letter Friday to Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Tony Cardenas (D-CA), thanking them for their leadership in recognizing National Small Business Week.
“Credit unions exist to promote thrift and provide access to credit for their members and communities. Ensuring our small business members have access to the capital they need to meet customer demand and grow their businesses is a priority for credit unions and is central to the mission Congress bestowed upon them,” wrote Nussle. “In fact, some of the earliest credit unions were formed to provide loans to members engaging in entrepreneurial enterprises. National Small Business Week is an ideal time to highlight all that America’s credit unions do to support small businesses in their communities: not just for a week—but every day, every week, and for more than 100 years.”