Legislative & Regulatory Update

North Dakota credit unions boldly advocated in Washington, D.C., to protect their tax status, push for CFPB reform, and more.

By John Alexander, DakCU Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs

The halls of Congress have a way of making you feel like just another visitor. The echo of hurried footsteps, the steady stream of staffers rushing between meetings, the endless parade of groups hoping for a moment of attention—it can be easy to feel lost in the shuffle. But when we walked into those offices last week, we weren’t just another group. We were North Dakota credit unions, and we had something to say.

We had come to fight for what keeps our communities strong: the credit union tax status. It’s more than a policy position; it’s the very thing that allows us to put people over profit, to offer lower rates, to keep local economies thriving. If we lose it, we lose everything that makes credit unions different from big banks. That message had to be delivered loud and clear, and we made sure it was.

We sat across from Senator John Hoeven, joined by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Tyler Hardin, and laid it all out. Not in vague talking points, not in political fluff—just the reality of what credit unions mean to North Dakota. We are financial lifelines in small towns where big banks won’t go. We are the first mortgage, the emergency loan, the small business funding that keeps Main Street alive. And we will not let that be jeopardized. Hoeven listened, nodding in agreement, and it was a reminder of why we show up—to have these conversations, face to face, where real decisions are made.

We walked into Senator Kevin Cramer’s office, knowing he wouldn’t be there. A head injury had taken him off the schedule for the time being, but his legislative aide, Mary Silverthorn, greeted us warmly. It would have been easy for the conversation to feel like a formality, a placeholder until the senator returned. But Mary didn’t treat it that way. She asked questions, took notes, made it clear that our concerns would be heard. Cramer wasn’t in the room, but our message was. And in advocacy, that’s what matters.

When we sat down with Julie Fedorchak and Ty Kennedy, it felt less like a meeting and more like a reunion. Ty had been in Hoeven’s office before, and we knew him well. That familiarity changed the tone of the conversation. This wasn’t about convincing someone new—it was about reinforcing a fight we had already been in together. They understood the stakes. They knew that North Dakota’s credit unions weren’t just asking for political favors—we were asking for fairness, for stability, for the ability to keep doing what we do best: serving our members.

But our mission in D.C. went beyond just defending what we have—we were also there to fix what’s broken. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an unchecked power, a single director with the ability to create sweeping regulations without oversight. We called for change. If repeal isn’t possible, then at the very least, a board of directors must be put in place to ensure that no one person has absolute rulemaking authority over an entire industry.

We pushed for the repeal of Sections 1071 and 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act , unnecessary regulatory burdens that do nothing but weigh down credit unions with costly and complicated compliance. And when it came to the CFPB itself, we made one thing clear: it must be placed under congressional appropriations. No more independent funding streams, no more sidestepping accountability. If an agency has the power to rewrite the rules of financial services, it should answer to the people.
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Leaving those meetings, we didn’t feel small. We felt heard. We felt like we had made an impact. Because that’s the thing about advocacy—it’s not always about walking out with immediate victories. It’s about making sure that the next time a bill is written, the next time a vote is cast, the voices of North Dakota’s credit unions are in the room.
Washington, D.C., is full of people who talk. But last week, North Dakota credit unions did more than talk. We made sure they listened.