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Legislative Challenges State
Legislation President Signs HR 1151 Into Law! It has been a long battle in Washington for credit union members throughout the United States. All the hard work has paid off and the Senate followed suit with the House of Representatives by passing HR 1151 - The Credit Union Membership Access Act - by a huge margin of 92 to 6! On Friday, August 7, 1998, President Clinton signed our bill into law at a private ceremony in the Oval Office. Those who witnessed the signing included many national credit union leaders along with many Senators and Congressmen who fought very hard for the passage of our bill. We owe a debt of gratitude to Senator Alfonse D'Amato for not allowing amendments to halt our bill through the Senate. We owe a very special thank you to the two Congressmen who co-authored our bill - Mr. Steve LaTourette and Mr. Paul Kanjorski. Another big thank you is due to Senator Barbara Boxer, who sits on the Banking Committee. She fought long and hard to ensure that all amendments that would have hampered credit unions in the future were never attached to our bill! Most of all, a huge thank you goes out to all credit union members (including SPCU members) who wrote letters, signed petitions, called on your Congressional Representatives and Senators, spoke out for credit unions, wrote articles and pitched in when needed. Credit Union members were the driving force that passed this bill. The Banking Industry spent ten times the amount of money that credit unions had to lobby Congress and the Senate. The still lost. But who really won this battle? The Consumer did. Ultimately, the everyday working person now has a choice - they can do their financial business at a bank OR a credit union - contrary to what the bankers really wanted. What does this bill mean to Sierra Point Credit Union members? Actually, it never directly affected us except when amendments started to appear because they would have affected state chartered, federally insured credit unions, like SPCU. Indirectly, there have been rumblings on the state level that bankers have held back their lawsuits awaiting the outcome of HR 1151. If this bill had not passed, bankers intended to sue numerous state chartered credit unions relying upon the Supreme Court ruling that outlawed multiple fields of membership. Now that the bill has been signed, bankers will have to give up this part of the battle. I keep saying that we won the battle, however, we have not nor will we ever win the war with the banking industry. Ever since credit unions were granted their tax exemption, bankers have fought it. After the Senate passed HR 1151, a banker lobbyist stated that this battle was never about field of membership, but about taxation. We will continue to ensure that credit unions are spotlighted every time a tax issue comes up. So, the battle is won and the war will rage on for generations as it has before - 1937, 1955, 1962, 1971, 1982 and so on. As long as there are people who believe in a democratically controlled, volunteer driven, one vote per member financial institution, there will always be credit unions and members to fight the war. Again, thank you all for your help and remember our elected representatives should never forget that credit unions are people. So, when you write your letters, thank them for their hard work in passing HR 1151. I |
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Last Update: 08/09/98 |
