Maine Congressman Michael Michaud, the only credit union volunteer serving in Congress, urged more than 300 CU representatives to make their voices heard to his congressional colleagues during CUNA's "Hike the Hill Month."
"With just six weeks to go before the elections, now is the opportunity to make the credit union voices heard," said Michaud, a director at EastMill FCU, during an Election Fair sponsored by CUNA on Capitol Hill. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham urged CUs to remain "community oriented" and "community active" and "never stop coming up here in droves."
As many as 800 credit union executives from almost 40 states blanketed Capitol Hill last week to counter the bankers' lobbying for repeal of the credit union tax exemption. As many as 1,200 executives were expected to visit their congressmen during the month.
While in town, representatives of the Colorado and Wyoming Credit Union Leagues who "Hiked the Hill" distributed buttons with the simple message, "1 in 3." The reference was to the fact that one-in-three people in the two states belongs to a credit union.
Meanwhile, "Minnesota's CUs brought along some new lobbyists: representatives of Paraguay's credit unions. The Minnesota Credit Union Network organized the cooperative lobbying effort with the Central de Cooperativas Nacionales del Paraguay, with which it has had a relationship since 2003 as part of the World Council's Partnership Program. Two members of the Instituto Nacional de Cooperativismo (INCOOP), Paraguay's credit union regulator, were also attending the Hike the Hill. While in town the Paraguayan delegation met with CUNA, NCUA and NASCUS.
