WASHINGTON Members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee could get their first glimpse of a tax reform bill as early as next month, heightening ongoing efforts to preserve the credit union tax exemption.
“We are looking to have a committee bill sometime in October,” said John Magill, chief lobbyist for CUNA, who worked more than two decades as staff director for a Ways and Means member. Magill said the initial bill will be critical for credit unions. “You’ve got to nip it in the bud because if you don’t, you’ve got to fight it the rest of the way.”
The credit union lobby has been campaigning hard to retain their tax status, with thousands of executives and volunteers lobbying Congress since the onset of the debate over reform. CUNA, which has launched a #donttaxmycu initiative, is holding a national social media rally Oct. 2, during which the hope is individuals will inundate Congress with tweets and e-mails in support of the tax exemption.
“The first draft of the bill is the most critical piece of this drama,” John McKechnie, a lobbyist representing several state credit union leagues, told Credit Union Journal yesterday. “If the credit union exemption is not in the initial bill I think we are in a much stronger position, because it is much harder to get it knocked out once it is in there.”
Brad Thaler, senior lobbyist for NAFCU, said there is some momentum pushing tax reform, even though major bills are routinely being stalled in Congress because of partisan wrangling. He noted it is the final opportunity to pass tax reform both for the chairman of House Ways and Means, Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., who must relinquish the chairman’s seat because of term limits; and the head of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who has announced his retirement after the current Congress. “It is the last shot for both,” said Thaler. “So they will look for some way to get something done.”
