WASHINGTON — Jim Nussle learned about credit unions the hard way, and it's a story the new president and CEO of CUNA tells regularly about the importance of CU advocacy.
The 54-year-old former legislator served eight terms in the House and recalled that shortly after deciding to run for Congress 1990, one of the first calls he received was from his local banker who offered to help Nussle in any way he could.
"I came from a town in Iowa that did not have any credit unions, and as a result I was a bank customer," he told Credit Union Journal in a recent interview. "It wasn't until after I came to Congress that I was first introduced to credit unions who came from Iowa to hike the Hill and talk about issues. That was my first real introduction — 'How come you're on the wrong side?' You can imagine it took a while to understand the issues, to appreciate fully the philosophy, to establish the kind of relationship that has now been an enduring one.... Let's call it an awkward beginning."
Nussle — who later served as director of the Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush — has been a member of several credit unions since that time, and is currently a member of Congressional FCU, as well as a few others. What he learned through those first Iowa CU reps and as a credit union member himself is that credit unions are in the relationship business, and that's a strategy he said applies to what he'll be doing at CUNA as well.
"Advocacy is a relationship business, as is the credit union and financial services business, and we need to keep that in mind as we do our work on behalf of credit unions across the country."
That work starts with protecting the tax exemption and providing assistance to credit unions, whether they're small institutions struggling to survive or credit unions of any size struggling with the regulatory burden.
"It's a regulatory burden that was meant for and quite appropriate for the bad actors and those that abused the system during the Great Recession and before," he said. "It was not meant for smaller financial services institutions that are relationship businesses, community-based, member-driven businesses and cooperatives. That's what I see is crushing not only our industry but also for that matter many community bankers."
Unlikely Partners?
Nussle noted that while his first priority is to be an advocate on behalf of credit unions, he also believes that CUs and community bankers could potentially "stand together going forward" as both sides fight the regulatory burden.
"I believe it is an important strategy to look around and say 'Who else believes what we believe? How can we build alliances in multiple areas?' Clearly [community banks] are different — they're for profit, they're worried about their shareholders — but they're also competing in a marketplace with a regulatory burden that was not meant for them. It was meant for the bigger players that in many instances were not acting appropriately and you could say spoiled it for the rest of the bunch. I would think as a strategy we could very easily find alliances to work together on these important issues. We shouldn't just assume because we are opponents on a number of other issues that we couldn't work together on this particular issue."
Beyond the potential for forging new partnerships, Nussle also has the goal of broadening credit union membership and deepening existing relationships. That's where his awkward introduction to credit unions comes in handy, since everyone has to be introduced — or reintroduced — to credit unions at one time or another.
"We all have that experience where we have to explain that uniqueness, the reason why credit unions are in fact special," he said. "I would suggest that we have some great partners in this, first and foremost the credit unions themselves. They're on the front lines and deal with this in their communities in a hand-to-hand combat sort of way every day. Some of them do a tremendous job and others are challenged in this, and helping everyone understand best practices from this standpoint would be one area [of how CUNA might work to deepen relationships and grow overall membership]."
Nussle also noted that state leagues will also play a major role in that task, and he was quick to point out that CUNA can learn from them.
"Even before I say 'Jim's going to come in and reinvent the wheel,' we've got some good wheels out there. So let's use them and find the very best in that, and also recognize that there are other partners in this, too."
One partner Nussle is already familiar with is NAFCU, and he emphasized the history of cooperation between the two groups, pointing out that he has already met with NAFCU's president and CEO Dan Berger to discuss their shared agendas. While some have argued that credit unions don't need two trade associations, Nussle suggested that a wealth of advocacy has helped the movement in the past and can continue to do so.
"I don't think any of our members are upset that they're being over-served," he said. "It's more an issue of 'Is there a reason why there are multiple organizations?'... I have learned from watching other industries that competition is good. It raises everybody's game. Having multiple organizations — and the competition, which I think is generally good-natured and positive — raises everybody's game. On behalf of an industry, that can be positive. It can be disruptive, and I know Dan and I already committed to one another and to our boards that we don't want that to be the case."
Responding To Critics
While Nussle has worked extensively with both the legislative and executive branches, one critique some have leveled at him is a lack of experience working within the credit union community.
"It's a fair criticism; I completely understand that." But he countered by saying that ever since his first experience with CUs he has been "a credit union member and supporter, first and foremost. I understand and support whole-heartedly the philosophy.... I will never be able to measure up to those who say 'You've got to know everything,' but I do believe I bring some things that are valuable, and hopefully partnering with good professionals here on the team I hope we can add value quickly."
Among the skills he believes he brings to the table is a sense of understanding how Washington works — not just the details of how a bill becomes a law, he said, but a history of relationships with some of the players in the Capitol, an understanding of what goes on in leadership meetings when both parties are determining Congressional agendas for the year, and how to put together a bipartisan coalition.
Nussle added that there are ways to get things done that don't go through the Capitol, such as legal processes, regulatory advocacy and incubators at the state level — and that's before public opinion and member advocacy on an individual basis even comes into play. "All of those, I think, are things I can bring to this that hopefully can add value to the CUNA proposition," he said.
The Road Ahead
Nussle also took time to discuss the issues currently before credit unions.
While there are plenty of other issues on the horizon for credit unions, Nussle said it was difficult to determine which will take priority until after next month's midterm elections.
"So much of it may depend on the agenda of the next Congress and the ability to work with them," he forecasted. "I would say that the regulatory burden as a Congressional agenda item is one that I believe is an opportunity, but it also depends to some extent on what is doable, what is possible. I don't believe, based on my experience, that this election is going to break open the logjam of gridlock just because of one election."
Whatever happens, he said, the trade group "will have to scale our priorities and our tactics and strategies accordingly, recognizing that we may need to look for other avenues."
Nussle conceded that he has a learning curve ahead of him, but said that "I believe a leader's responsibility is to constantly listen to and learn from their members and fellow team members, and their competitors and partners. And I will continue to do that regardless of how much I'm able to absorb about this great industry."
