ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU has sent a letter to the House Small Business Committee leaders in advanced of the committee’s mark-up Thursday of the Small Business Administration budget documents.
NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler wrote that credit unions have been and continue to be an important resource to the nation’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“As a result of the close relationships credit unions maintain with their members, credit unions are often willing to assist their members in their entrepreneurial endeavors when other lenders refuse,” Thaler stated. “During the economic crisis, many other lenders reduced their lending to small businesses. Credit unions not only continued to lend but increased their lending to small businesses at the time they needed it most."
Thaler noted the partnership credit unions have with the SBA to provide loans to member small businesses. Last year, NAFCU and SBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at getting more credit unions to increase their lending to member-small businesses through SBA micro loan programs.
Thaler also emphasized that credit unions are “ready, willing and able to assist our nation’s entrepreneurs through their business lending programs and facilitating Small Business Administration programs. Unfortunately, credit unions are hampered in their pursuit to assist entrepreneurs because of an arbitrary cap on the credit they are able to extend to small businesses. As credit unions move closer to the member business lending cap, they are forced to not only turn away new small businesses but also, in some cases, curtail their lending to small businesses they are currently serving."
Thaler urged the committee to support bipartisan efforts to provide relief from the credit union member business lending cap, such as H.R. 1188, the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act, H.R. 1422, theCredit Union Residential Loan Parity Act, and H.R. 1133 to exempt loans made to veterans from the cap.