Legislative Update with Jay Kruse

​Silent Auction less than two weeks away! Plus, Advancing Communities promotes your benefits and service to Dakota’s communities; and is social media becoming more social? 

Good Morning!

I hope everyone is enjoying this last week of April! As a reminder, the Summit Silent Auction is less than two weeks away, so don’t forget to submit your auction item donation online here: https://dakcu.cbo.io to get your item on display for all our bidders to see! Items continue to roll in daily, so be sure to continue to check back in as we lead up to the Summit.

This is a busy week in Congress for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which addressed the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee yesterday and will visit the House Committee on Financial Services today for their, "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress.” CFPB Director Chopra didn’t make a lot of news and there weren’t a lot of fireworks.  However, some of our credit union concerns were raised by Senators Rounds (R-SD) and Tillis (R-NC) related to overdraft protection and engagement with stakeholders. You can tune in to a webcast of today’s House Financial Services CFPB hearing here.

Senate and House committees will also be holding oversight hearings for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today and tomorrow. Tune in here: SBA / FinCEN

Social Media Becoming More Social?
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know the big news of the week is that mega-rich Tesla and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, has made a successful bid to purchase the social media giant, Twitter, for $44 billion! The purchase has triggered many across the country as Musk has pledged to make some sweeping changes in the name of “free speech.” Which, if you ask me, is long overdue. I flew the coop a few years back with concerns over actions Twitter and others were taking to regulate free speech in the public town hall that twitter had become. Under Musk’s direction, will the Twitter echo chamber expand to include the ideas and opinions of all its users? I’m excited to find out!

All this has got me thinking about the future of social media and the ways stories and ideas are shared. Social media, whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or some other platform I am too old to know about, has taken over and fundamentally changed the way Americans consume news and entertainment and share their lives.

Advancing Communities Reboot
This brings me back to our Advancing Communities Initiative and how we spread the word about all the good things Dakota credit unions are doing to help advance and benefit their local communities. We still believe the best way to do that is by sharing stories online through a partnership of CUNA’s Advancing Communities and CU Social Good.
I know it probably hasn’t been top of mind and things have gotten busy, but please take a moment to consider the ways you are promoting your credit union’s benefits and service to your local community. I know it’s sometimes hard to toot our own horn, but community members deserve to know the impact their credit union is having on their local economy. And, It’s important we continue to tell our story in a way that others are interested in consuming. In today’s technology filled world, that appears to be in the form of heartwarming or inspiring short clips or videos. What can we learn from many people’s addiction to Instagram or TikTok?

We need credit unions’ help to create and populate a database of video stories that we can share with potential new members, community leaders, and elected officials via our Advancing Community Initiative. How can we work together to assist you in the process and make this initiative a success?

Please take a moment to refamiliarize yourself with the Advancing Communities website at advancingcommunity.com and consider submitting a brief video clip or two by clicking on the “Share Your Credit Union Story” button at the top of the page.

As always, thank you for your continued support, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.