Credit Unions Can Support Small Businesses Without Bailout Bucks
by: Hon. Daniel A. Mica, Principal, The DMA Group
During the presidential primary season we are inundated with sound bites on the importance of jobs in our nation’s economy. Along these lines a “he said, she said” conversation has unfolded trying to determine whether or not the auto bailout has created new jobs. The White House states that 170,000 new jobs were created since 2009 costing taxpayers roughly $14 billion while former Gov. Mitt Romney argues that the bailout was the wrong way to go. Whether you believe there was value in the auto bailout or not is superseded by an ironic twist of political wrangling that is unfolding in our very midst. At the writing of this article, sitting before Congress is a bill that would support small business growth, cost the tax payers almost zero dollars and projects a yield of over one hundred thousand new jobs!
Sen. Mark Udall’s (D-Colo.) Small Business Lending Enhancement Act (S.509) includes language that expands credit union’s eligibility to offer member business loans. This legislation, currently on the floor, has bipartisan support in the both the House and Senate as well as an endorsement from the Department of Treasury. If approved by the Senate either as part of the forthcoming jobs bill or otherwise, credit unions could do $13 billion in new lending to small businesses in the first year, helping to create over 140,000 new jobs.
The banks have put a full-court press to terminate the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act. Their grassroots advocacy efforts ask Senators to be concerned about “starving” banks from potential revenue. Are these the starving banks that are ramping up their efforts to charge consumers hidden fees? Consumers could see up to 49 new fees according to last year’s study by The Pew Foundation. Even after the Bank of America five-dollar debit fee debacle that led over a million Americans to transfer their accounts to credit unions, the banks are still plotting to sneak fees past them. Their efforts to shut down today’s job-creating legislation, only highlights the bank’s profit seeking agenda.
Senator Udall’s legislation would allow the 500 credit unions with the most experience in business lending to raise their lending cap. Credit unions are offering a nearly tax-free solution to the job crisis that can spur our nation’s economy and support small businesses without costing a dime. As the Congress and Treasury agree that the credit union’s no-cost job solution is one they can support, we may avoid any “he said, she said” if the bill passes.
Dan Mica, former head of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), established The DMA Group as a means to combine a myriad of experience into a one-stop consultancy. Elected in 1978 to represent Florida’s 11th district in the U.S. House of Representatives, Dan Mica served five terms before beginning what would become more than two decades of work in the world of non-profits and association management. The DMA Group is a full-service consulting firm, providing the highest level of integrity and service through established practices and decades of experience. www.dmagroupdc.com
