Congress Eyes CU TaxExemption

WASHINGTON - (10/17/05) -- In what credit union lobbyists seeas an ominous sign, the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committeeis expected to hold hearings as early as next week focusing on thecredit union tax exemption. Committee staffers have alreadydiscussed the topic and invited the Internal Revenue Service toappear at the hearing, which is being billed as exploratory, atthis time. But sources say the committee, headed by sometime creditunion critic Bill Thomas, R-Calif., may be looking at the creditunion exemption as a possible source of federal revenues as thefederal budget deficit is expected to explode from its alreadyrecord levels, as expenses from Hurricane Katrina relief and thecontinued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, add to the government's redink. Officials at the committee did not return calls from TheCredit Union Journal last week.