Advocacy: A winning strategy in uncertain times

For a decade, credit unions have been fighting back against the onslaught of burdensome regulations that came in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In these past 10 years, we’ve seen unprecedented consolidation in our industry as smaller institutions couldn’t operate with so many compliance costs. But now we’re turning the tide – the most comprehensive regulatory relief package since the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted last month.

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) didn’t just happen overnight. Even though it only took a few seconds for the president to sign it into law, this package is the culmination of years of effort by various stakeholders, of hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill and phone calls with key lawmakers, of thousands of messages sent by credit unions and those most acutely impacted by restrictions on financial services.

What this legislative win demonstrates is how effective advocacy efforts can be, but also how dedicated organizations and their members need to be to their advocacy efforts. And it’s not the first time credit unions have proven they’re a force to be reckoned with in Washington.

NAFCU was started more than 50 years ago because our founders recognized the changing national economy and the necessity of laws that would allow credit unions to compete with banks and other financial institutions. We have long been credit unions’ Washington watchdog, and we take our jobs seriously.

 

continue reading »