Legislative Update with Jay Kruse

​Jay is reporting from Chicago today as he attends AACUL meetings in “The Windy City.” Plus, as NCUA Board Chair Harper is nominated for another term, he may face some Dakota opposition. 

Good morning! I’m reporting live from the O’Hare Hilton in Chicago, Illinois today, the location of the CUNA-League Advocacy Team “fly-in” meetings, facilitated by our friends at AACUL.
 
AACUL is the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, whose mission is to cultivate the success of individual leagues as well as the collective League System by supporting league efforts to advocate, communicate, collaborate, and influence policy on behalf of credit unions nationwide. The value of the information exchanged at these “fly-in” meetings is a major contributor to our advocacy success on both the state and national level. I can’t stress how much I appreciate the collaboration that AACUL provides to help me stay up to date on current, and more importantly, potential future issues that Dakota credit union members may run into down the road, based on what is happening in other states across the nation.
 
Harper renomination to NCUA – is a Senate vote soon?
President Biden’s renomination of current NCUA Board Chair, Todd Harper, to another full term on the NCUA Board was expected to be up for a vote in front of the full Senate prior to Memorial Day. That did not happen. Congress is still in recess the remainder of this week before they head back to DC next week to potentially consider Mr. Harpers renomination. However, “gun votes” following the recent tragic Uvalde School mass shooting may push any nomination votes to the back burner.
 
As NCUA Board Chair, Mr. Harper chose to include his personal concerns, that also unfortunately mirror those of the Biden Administration, over the short and long-term viability of our nation’s farming industry and agricultural lending in the NCUA’s strategic plan. Fellow board member and Vice-Chair Hauptman in addition to board member Hood, made it very clear during the virtual NCUA board meeting, that while they did not agree with Chair Harper on the topic, they would defer to the chair as a compromise.  
 
Needless to say, with many Dakota credit unions servicing the farming community, the anti-agricultural lending language included in the NCUA’s strategic plan definitely caught our attention here at DakCU. In fact, Jeff Olson addressed the issue quite strongly last January in his weekly article.
 
Mr. Harper also caught the attention of the entire Dakotas’ congressional delegation and a number of additional Midwest senators which we reported on earlier this year in February.
 
I only bring this up because it may be a good indication of how Dakotas’ Senators Thune (R-SD), Rounds (R-SD), Hoeven (R-ND), and Cramer (R-ND) may vote when that time comes. It’s also important to note that neither Senate Banking Committee Members Rounds or Cramer supported Harper’s renomination as it moved through the committee process.  
 
As always, thank you for your continued support, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.