“The 118th Congress has business to finish before this year ends,” wrote America’s Credit Unions Senior Vice President of Advocacy Greg Mesack in an op-ed for CUInsight. With several must-pass items for Congress, including the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and government funding, Mesack said America’s Credit Unions will work to advance credit union priorities, while cautioning advocates to “remain vigilant for last-minute threats as lawmakers also look to attach bill language that we oppose.”

The FY25 NDAA was released over the weekend with no concerning provisions to credit unions. America’s Credit Unions has engaged lawmakers throughout the NDAA process to ensure no troublesome provisions are included.

These efforts also include working to ensure the Big Box Bailout bill is not attached to the NDAA or any other legislation.

Mesack, in the op-ed, also said the lame-duck period is an opportunity “to advance widely supported bipartisan policies that will benefit credit unions and their members.”

This includes several popular common-sense bills that would help credit unions serve members better:

• The Credit Union Board Modernization Act (which has 60 co-sponsors in the House and 34 in the Senate);
• The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (130 co-sponsors in the House, 42 in the Senate); and
• The Community Development Fund Transparency Act (28 co-sponsors in the House, four in the Senate).

“We put up a strong defense, but there is still time and plenty of opportunities to make positive impacts in this lame-duck,” said Mesack. “We shouldn’t waste the final weeks of this Congress when there’s common sense, bipartisan legislation out there that can help a lot of people.”

Read the full op-ed here.