Taxation and other issues such as regulatory burden, growth, building strong brands and card standard changes topped the agenda at the Maine Credit Union League’s Leadership Roundtable last week in Rockport, Maine.  Nearly 90 credit union representatives attended.

“The cooperative principals and philosophy of credit unions are really resonating with consumers,” league President John Murphy told attendees (Weekly UpdateSept. 20). “As a result, we continue to see impressive growth across the board in assets, loans, savings and membership. However, there are some critical issues and threats facing credit unions, such as tax reform and regulatory burden.”

Maine credit unions must continue to engage members in the Don’t Tax My Credit Union  grassroots campaign, he said, adding, “Maintaining our tax exemption is our No. 1 priority and, even though each member of our congressional delegation has been supportive of our exemption, we need to demonstrate that importance by sending thousands of messages to our delegation.”

Regulatory burden was also on the list of threats and challenges facing credit unions. “There have been 170 new regulations put in place since the start of the Great Recession in 2008,” said Murphy. “The burden of new regulations continues to impact the ability of credit unions to focus on serving members. We, along with the Credit Union National Association, are committed to working with Congress and regulatory agencies to ease this burden and look for more regulatory relief, where it is appropriate.”

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