California CUs Flex Anti-TaxMuscle

LOS ANGELES - (06/08/06) – Credit unions went all out in astate Senate race Tuesday to help defeat the sponsor of a bill tostudy a credit union tax. The credit union lobby poured more than$140,000 on behalf of Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, whodefeated State Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez for the Democraticnomination for the state’s 20th Senate District, which iscertain to go to a Democrat in November’s general election.Montanez introduced a bill in 2003 which would have created a studyby the state Assembly of a tax on large, diversified credit unions,but the bill never went anywhere. “We’ve got onethrow-down issue and she stepped on it,” Bill Cheney,president of the California CU League, told The Credit UnionJournal. “So we had to exercise some muscle.” Creditunions poured more resources into the Padilla/Montanez raise thanany other state race in the country, funding $100,000 inindependent expenditures, which included mailings to the generalpopulation on Padilla’s behalf; manning telephone banks;walking the districts; and holding multiple fundraisers.