Pewaukee, WI - Racine Mayor John Dickert was honored in Madison in front of 230 attendees of the Wisconsin Credit Union League's annual Government Affairs Conference. He was recognized for helping to pass a resolution at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of federal legislation that would ensure small businesses can access needed loans through credit unions.
A plaque, thanking him on behalf of the 95 million consumers nationwide who own credit unions, acknowledged his help in adding a bipartisan list of 187 mayors to the resolution supporting the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Bill (S.B. 2231/H.R. 1418).
The legislation, which was introduced in the previous 112th Congress, would have increased the ability of the financial cooperatives to extend additional credit to small businesses at no cost to taxpayers. In the first year alone, it would have made available $14 billion in new credit and 157,000 new jobs nationwide. In Wisconsin it would have provide $458 million in new credit and created almost 5,000 jobs.
A similar version of the bill is likely to be reintroduced as part of the current, 113th Congress.
"Mayor Dickert understands that credit unions can fill today's huge void for business credit because they have billions available to lend, a 100-year history of making business loans safely, the support of federal regulators and the support of 80% of Wisconsin voters who, like Forbes magazine, see this as an absolute no-brainer," said Brett Thompson, President & CEO of The Wisconsin Credit Union League.
The Conference of Mayors is part of a bipartisan list of more than 30 organizations supporting the measure, including groups representing small businesses, the self-employed and the insurance, textile, realty, construction, automotive and technology industries.
Credit unions are cooperative financial institutions that are owned by their members and do not have stockholders. Because they are not-for-profit, they return earnings to members via more competitive rates of return on accounts, lower interest on loans, lower fees and improved services. The REAL Solutions Scorecard, at www.theleague.coop/scorecard, explains how Wisconsin credit unions serve their communities and how they've saved their members close to $1 billion since the start of the recession. Around 2.3 million Wisconsin residents belong to credit unions, of which nearly half are open to the local community. Find a credit union to join by visiting www.asmarterchoice.org.