MADISON, Wis. — It may be a cooperative movement, but getting credit unions behind the same cause is often more akin to herding cats. Few people know that better than Larry Blanchard.
Nearly everyone in credit unions involved with the enormous effort to get the Credit Union Membership Access Act, HR 1151, recalls the unified face and effort credit unions put forward in backing the Campaign for Consumer Choice. What few recall, however, is that the two CU trade groups actually had separate efforts and strategies in the initialand not particularly effectiveresponses to victories by the banking industry in the court system and legislatures.
“Looking back, there really were two different campaigns going on. There was Operation Secure and Beat Back the Bankers. And both were trying to get the message out,” Blanchard recalled. “But the members of CUNA and NAFCU said, We have got to come together, this is too important.’”
But who to lead such an effort? While the trade groups each put forth a representative on the early steering committee, Kathy Thompson from CUNA and Pat Keefe from NAFCU (who has since joined CUNA), politics demanded that they look to a third party for their chairman. They found that person in Larry Blanchard, who then, like now, was with CUNA Mutual Group. CUNA Mutual essentially loaned Blanchard full-time to the cause, and he would spend innumerable hours overseeing the credit union campaign.
When asked why he thought the two groups were willing to entrust him the job, Blanchard replied, “I guess they thought I was nuts enough to try it,” but added, “I had bridged a lot of issues and worked across industry lines. I was trusted by both groups.”
“We were volunteers for what was supposed to be a three-month assignment,” he noted. “And 22 months later ”
It was to become a theme for the entire effort, which started with a one-paragraph bill, and pages and pages of amendments later
As the leader of a battle to ensure the very future of the credit union movement, Blanchard has more than a few memories from that prodigious effort, but the first one that came to mind was the rollercoaster ride that was CUNA’s GAC in 1998.
“One moment we get the call on the Supreme Court ruling (5-4 against credit unions) and it was such a sobering moment.” Blanchard related. “Then the next moment, we had the Speaker of the House (Newt Gingrich) announce he was signing on as a co-sponsor of HR 1151, and it was just so extraordinary for a sitting speaker to stand up and do that. We had a legislative plan already in place and we rolled it out immediately,”
And yet, there is an old observation about best-laid plans.
“We’re in the Senate Banking Committee, and the bill has already gone through the subcommittee in the House, and it was a bruising battle up there,” he said. “We were close to disaster on several occasions. There we are, [CUNA President] Dan Mica, [then-NAFCU President] Ken Robinson and their senior lobbyists waiting in the hall for the committee to begin, and an aide for Sen. (Alfonse) D’Amato comes out and says, Folks, we have a problem. This bill is not going to go anywhere unless you agree to a cap on member business lending.’ It was very close to being all over right then.
“We talked to the researchers, and what they found was that there were very few credit unions who were anywhere near that cap, and we worked for a carve-out for the faith- and agriculture-based credit unions, those that were formed specifically to make business loans and would have been severely affected by the cap,” Blanchard continued. “We had no choice but to accept it, and we’ve been working to roll it back ever since. But I can see that scene clear as day. I remember seeing the faces around me turn white as marble when we heard that aide say, We have a problem.’”
There were other scary moments, as well.
“The day of the rally in July 1998, it had to be the hottest day of the year, and we had breakfast in the speaker’s private dining room prior to the event,” he recalled. “I was so concerned because we had asked people to show up at the last minute, and as we’re walking up the steps to breakfast, no one was there. My heart dropped. But when we came back out, the entire plaza was filled with people chanting singing and carrying signs. We had only a few days to try to get people there, and we had people there all the way from Alaska. It was so absolutely beautiful to see.”
While all credit union eyes were focused on HR 1151, there were other things going on on Capitol Hill. “You know, the day we were in the Oval Office (Aug. 7) for the signing of the bill into law was the day after President Clinton told Hillary about Monica Lewinsky,” Blanchard said, referring to the affair President Clinton had with young a White House intern. “He looked like hell. You could tell he’d had a bad night.”
But there are more than just memories from HR 1151, there are some very real battle scars, as well as important lessons learned.
“Standing together united with our allies, we can move mountains,” he said. “The real muscle behind that effort came from 40% of credit unions. If everyone had gotten involved, we wouldn’t have had to make the compromises we are still dealing with today. We see the same thing with CURIA. If all credit unions would commit to getting this done, we could get it done.
“HR 1151 was a life-and-death battle, period. It was a hell of an experience. It was exhausting. The result was thrilling, but it left us with more work to be done, work that we are still trying to accomplish today.” (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
