Although Ed Roberts' March 10 coverage of CUNA's continuing efforts to pass a bankruptcy abuse prevention bill is generally on point, I dispute his contention that "enthusiasm for the credit union-backed bill is waning."
According to CUNA's annual CEO Board Survey, bankruptcy reform received a whopping 68% of the votes in response to a question about which legislative change would be most beneficial to your credit union. The same question in 2002 garnered 51%, a healthy number to be sure, but not quite the impressive result from this year.
I am aware of some public opposition to bankruptcy legislation on the part of a few credit union CEOs, and I commend them for their interest and welcome the debate that they engender. Frankly, in a movement that encompasses nearly 10,000 institutions, I wouldn't expect unanimity on any issue.
The bottom line is this: Credit unions remain strongly convinced of the need for real reform of the bankruptcy code. They see the rising numbers of filings, and more importantly, they see increased examples of overt abuse. Both in survey numbers, and anecdotally, I see no decrease in our shared commitment to seeing a bill become law, and I hope that your coverage of the issue reflects this reality a bit more closely in the future.
Richard L. Ensweiler
Chairman, CUNA Governmental Affairs Committee
President, Texas Credit Union League
