Maintaining tax advocacy momentum with Capitol Hill visits

Credit unions kept up the momentum sharing their tax advocacy strategy on Capitol Hill Thursday, meeting with lawmakers and their staff to support the credit union tax status and advance other priorities. Credit union leaders from Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma took part in the meetings this week.

Missouri credit union leaders, America’s Credit Unions, and the Missouri Credit Union Association, a division of the Cornerstone League, met with the office of House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

Smith leads the committee that is currently drafting the tax-related portions of the budget reconciliation package. They also met with the staff from House Financial Services Committee Member Rep. Ann Wagner, R, House Small Business Committee Member Rep. Mark Alford, R., and Rep. Eric Burlison, R.

The group making visits Thursday included Assemblies of God Credit Union President/CEO Peter Shiner, Together Credit Union Brand Connections Manager Julie Linder, United Consumers Credit Union President Jay Neathery, and Volt Credit Union President/CEO Chris Moss.

Tinker Federal Credit Union Vice President of Government Affairs Keili McEwen, Cornerstone, and America’s Credit Unions also met Thursday with Rep. Stephanie Bice, R, Okla., vice chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. McEwen met with Rep. Kevin Hern, who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, on Wednesday.

The CrossState Credit Union Association and TruMark Financial Credit Union CEO Kelly Botti visited with the offices of House Ways and Means Committee Members Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa. 

The meetings came as House committees work on their sections of the budget reconciliation package, with each section to be sent to the House Rules Committee for assembly into a complete bill once passed. The House Financial Services Committee passed its section Wednesday, making several changes to the CFPB’s funding and Civil Penalty Fund.

The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to mark up its bill in the coming weeks, and the draft legislation could be released any day.