NEW YORK-CUNA President Bill Cheney last week said that though no one in Congress has endorsed repeal of the credit union tax exemption, the threat is real. To wit: just one week before that, congressional leaders had said they are starting with a clean slate regarding all tax preferences as they draft a reform package.
Cheney called on 1,200 attendees of CUNA's annual America's CU Conference to join the industry's efforts to preserve the exemption. "We have to reach out and we have to do it now," said Cheney, who urged attendees to contact their congressmen or senators in order to deter any thoughts of adding the credit union exemption to the reform package. "We need everybody's help. This fight is real," he said.
The CUNA executive said last week's move by congressional leaders, setting a clean slate, shows there will be no sacred cows and that any special tax benefit or exemption could be included in a final bill. "We have to get on that blank sheet of paper," he stated.
Cheney said CUNA is focusing on three key initiatives to help credit unions: Unite For Good, Don't Tax My Credit Union and Plan To Win.
The "Don't Tax My Credit Union" national campaign has taken credit unions from defending the tax exemption to advocating for it, he explained. The campaign got a big media boost with CUNA buying time on the CBS multi-media billboard in Times Square.
