The national credit union trade associations and state leagues are heavily involved in political activism and many have their own political action committees (PACs). Indeed, Leagues have had PACs for many years. The Credit Union Legislative Action Council (CULAC), the federal PAC of the Credit Union National Association, was formed in 1970s, while the state PACs for Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas were formed during the 1970s and early 1980s.
CUNA's PAC, the Credit Union Legislative Action Council (CULAC), is by far the biggest contributor to political candidates among credit union bodies and is also the third largest trade association PAC.
CULAC works very closely with state credit union leagues across the country and will likely spend about $4 million during this election cycle, including about $3 million in donations and more than $1 million in independent expenditures, said Trey Hawkins, CUNA's VP of political affairs. All told, CULAC is involved in some 300 House races this election year and most of the U.S. Senate campaigns, he added.
Richard Gose, chief political officer for the CUNA, emphasized the bipartisan nature of CUNA's financial donations. "For us the most important thing to convey to political candidates is the different nature of credit unions, as a member-owned cooperative, quite distinct from a bank," Gose said. "Party affiliation is simply not a concern for us."
Gose also noted the importance of establishing close relationships with congressmen and local lawmakers through the state leagues from the very beginning of their political careers.
According to Hawkins, as a PAC, CULAC can donate a maximum of $5,000 per election — $5,000 for both the primary and general election, or a maximum of $10,000 in total.
The National Association of Federal Credit Unions also plays a prominent role in political election donations with its own PAC (NAFCU/PAC), which is celebrating its 40th year of existence in 2016.
Dan O'Brien, NAFCU's director of political affairs, said neither NAFCU nor NAFCU/PAC endorse nor get involved in presidential elections.
"At the Congressional level, our political action committee is non-partisan and only focused on working with candidates and members of Congress' campaigns who understand credit union issues, have relationships at the local level and will fight for our industry in Congress," he said. "Credit unions have friends on both sides of the aisle. We work with Democrats and Republicans to create an environment where credit unions can thrive. With gridlock in Congress you can't rely on one party to champion your issues — you need to roll up your sleeves and get to work and find solutions that can make it to the president's desk."
League PACs
That's similar to the focus taken by state leagues such as Cornerstone Credit Union League (representing CUs in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma). Cornerstone has three PACs, and Jim Phelps, SVP of advocacy, said that in order to advance the interest of credit unions, it's important that leagues and CUNA work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
"Credit unions do not favor one party over another; we provide PAC and grassroots support to those who support our priority issues," he stated.
Cornerstone, he added, is focused on races at the state and congressional levels. "We are, of course, monitoring the presidential election to determine the potential impact on credit unions, but we are not contributing to presidential candidates," he noted.
While regulatory relief is commonly cited as the chief priority among credit unions, Phelps pointed out that there are a number of other issues the league considers as well.
"Appreciation for our unique, cooperative structure; support for the credit union tax exemption; support for data security legislation to protect credit members from breaches; and, protection of the products and services that our members depend on to improve their financial well-being," he elucidated.
Like many leagues, the Pennsylvania CU Association has both a state and federal Pac, and "We are active in both the [Pennsylvania] state house and also in the halls of Congress in Washington," said Christina Mihalik, vice president-government relations at PCUA.
But both PACs have been bi-partisan in terms of who they choose to donate money to.
"We look at the candidate and their positions on credit unions, rather than what Party they belong to," Mihalik said. "It has been pretty much 50-50 [Democrat-Republican] in the twenty years that we have had PACs. We do our due diligence and have face-to-face discussions with the candidates."
However, Mihalik noted that while political donations are a matter of public record, they do not necessarily amount to an explicit "endorsement" of said candidate.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the PCUA Legislative Action Committee (LAC) donated about $105,832 to political candidates in the current election cycle after donating $133,175 in 2014.
Spending by the PCUA LAC reached a high of $216,543 in the historic 2008 election. Many of the federal donations were made in conjunction with CUNA and its PAC.
Across the country at the Northwest CU Association, Samantha A.M. Beeler, director of grassroots advocacy, pointed out that her league is "consistently bipartisan" in how it doles out PAC funding, but that it doesn't engage in presidential races, choosing instead to focus on Congressional elections.
"CULAC contributes 50% to Republicans and 50% to Democrats, ranking among the most bipartisan PACs in D.C.," she said.
Both state PACs in Oregon and Washington (the two states NWCUA represents) are bipartisan, she emphasized. "We have friends and champions on both sides of the aisle," she said.
Beeler also noted that reducing the regulatory burden on credit unions is not simply a partisan issue. "Legislators on both sides of aisle want to ensure smart and appropriate regulation," she explained. "We have seen Republicans and Democrats alike supporting regulatory relief for credit unions."
No Presidential Position
Like other credit union advocacy groups, the New York Credit Union Association (NYCUA) does not take a position on the presidential race.
"Instead, we're focusing our political action efforts on ensuring credit union-friendly candidates at the state and Congressional levels have the funds they need to run a competitive campaign," said RJ Tamburri, communications director at NYCUA. "We're fortunate in New York to have strong support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and our campaign contributions reflect this."
NYCUA's political action committee — CUPAC — has donated about $32,000 to state-level candidates and campaign committees so far this year, Tamburri noted, adding that contributions for federal campaigns are administered through CULAC.
And, as with other credit union groups, NYCUA maintains strictly bipartisan approach. "It's about supporting the candidates that believe in the credit union mission and philosophy," Tamburri noted. "I believe the credit union philosophy and social mission resonates with many candidates, regardless of party affiliation."
Tamburri further stated that NYCUA focuses on local candidates and elections for maximum impact. "All politics is local [and] we're local institutions, so focusing on races in our own communities makes sense," he said. "In many cases we already have personal relationships with the lawmakers or candidates; sometimes they're even credit union members themselves."
Of course, with two highly polarizing presidential candidates battling each other this year, this is no ordinary election. "The presidential election is extremely divisive, and it's not in the best interest of the New York credit union movement to inject ourselves into the middle of that," Tamburri added.
Also, it's not uncommon to focus a bit more on candidates who hold leadership positions. "Right now Republicans hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, but that could obviously change:" Tamburri indicated. "However, New York is unique in the amount of support we have from both Republicans and Democrats at the state and federal levels. We're happy to support any candidate who supports credit unions."
