ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU is contending that financial institutions of all kinds would be better off if the Independent Community Bankers of America spent more time lobbying for regulatory relief instead of attacking the CU tax exemption.
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) seeking to debunk a recent ICBA letter on attacking credit unions' tax exemption.
"Instead of focusing on the ever increasing regulatory burden facing all financial institutions, particularly community financial institutions, ICBA has decided to continue a campaign of false claims against credit unions,” wrote Berger. “These resources could be better used in the effort to achieve meaningful regulatory relief to allow community financial institutions to better serve main street consumers."
Berger noted that ICBA’s resources could also be better utilized by encouraging community banks that still have outstanding TARP bailout money to finish repaying those loans and working toward creating a data security standard for retailers and merchants.
Berger also “set the record straight” regarding the banking trade’s claim that the credit union tax exemption comes at a significant cost to taxpayers. Berger wrote that an independent study commissioned by NAFCU in 2014 showed that credit unions add $17 billion to the economy per year and that eliminating their tax exemption would result in the loss of 150,000 jobs per year.