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On Monday, the League hosted a credit union Town Hall to provide timely updates from the Governmental Affairs team, led by Robert Caverly, Vice President of Advocacy & Outreach.
Caverly briefed attendees on the League’s efforts concerning 2022 political campaigns. With the League’s candidate endorsement process well underway, the Governmental Affairs Committee will convene later this month to consider recommendations for the League’s Board. The Board will consider those recommendations in early September. Caverly encouraged any credit union with information or suggestions on candidates to reach out to him directly at rcaverly@mainecul.org.
The League maintains a non-partisan endorsement policy that aims to support credit union-friendly candidates, especially those with deep credit union connections, and those with a proven history of supporting credit union issues. Additionally, the policy aims to make sure that endorsed candidates reflect our credit union values. A recent update to the policy includes the ability to retract an endorsement if a candidate’s position no longer aligns with our values.
Caverly also provided an update on several legislative initiatives being considered in Washington, including Senator Durbin’s latest attempt to make significant changes to card processing interchange fees. Rebekah Higgins, Synergent’s Vice President of Payments, joined the discussion and provided a detailed overview on the interchange bill that was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Marshall and Durbin.
In addition, Caverly discussed the credit union board modernization bills. Our partners at CUNA are leading an effort to encourage Congress to update the Credit Union Act to allow federally chartered credit unions to reduce the number of required board meetings from twelve to six per year. To qualify, credit unions will have to maintain certain scores on their CAMELS ratings. Newly formed credit unions will not qualify until they have been established for at least five years. The League has created a feedback form for credit unions to share their thoughts about this proposal. Credit union input is important and timely ahead of the League’s upcoming Hike the Hill program next month.
The League’s Compliance Intern, Nicholas Tammaro, briefed attendees about the updated changes involving the Anti-Money Laundering Act. He currently is attending the University of Maine School of Law and has credit union experience both in Maine and in his home state of New York.
The next Town Hall will be held on September 12 and will feature Steve Rick, Chief Economist at CUNA Mutual Group.