TAKE ACTION TODAY: Protect Credit Unions

Posted by Ryan Fitzgerald on May 2, 2025

Congress has recently returned from the Easter / Passover district work period and is proceeding directly to their work outlining and preparing to “mark up” the policy components of the budget reconciliation and tax policy legislation that we have been discussing since the beginning of the year.

There is detailed background below, but the most critical item is that advocates respond to the Call to Action request.

GoWest will be hosting a Q&A on Federal Advocacy Activities on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT. If you would like to take part in that Zoom discussion, please register here to join the call.

The time for action is NOW!

In recent reports from Capitol Hill, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is working on an extremely aggressive timeline for all House committees to negotiate and author several components that will be folded into the “one big, beautiful” tax cut and budget reconciliation bill that the President and Congress have laid out. The Speaker’s goal is to have everything settled and the bill passed out of Congress by Memorial Day, but we suspect that date will slip into the summer. Earlier in the week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the President’s revised goal for wrap-up and passage of the tax and budget bill to July 4^th. This message coincides with Secretary Bessent’s discussion and revised timeline around the extraordinary measures that Treasury is taking to manage the U.S. debt ceiling, which he believes would likely be reached between September and November. As you may recall, the budget package being negotiated will likely include a $3 – $5 trillion increase in the U.S. debt ceiling.

This is a critical time, and a defining moment for the credit union movement and GoWest is preparing to roll out a set of actions that will continue and elevate our targeted and tailor fit advocacy approach over the next few weeks, to ensure our delegation understands the importance of the credit union difference and actively works to protect the credit union tax exemption during the reconciliation debate, negotiation and vote in the House.

Call to Action

We are asking credit union leaders to TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION on the GoWest calls to action below, engaging all credit union staff.

Click on your State and Ask Your Member of Congress to Continue to

Protect the Credit Union Tax Exemption:

Arizona                  Idaho              Washington

Colorado              Oregon           Wyoming

** If you are a constituent in the 1^st Congressional District of Arizona (Schweikert) or 5^th Congressional District in Washington (Baumgartner), please look for the specific link to targeted messaging for these two members of our delegation when you click on your state link above.

Requested Action From:               All Credit Union Leaders and Staff

Threat Level:                                    Yellow

Response Date Requested:          May 7, 2025

Background

As you are likely aware, GoWest has been working collaboratively with our national association, America’s Credit Unions (ACU), and league partners at the American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL) to actively defend against any Congressional efforts to remove the credit union tax exemption as an offset or “pay for” in the ongoing budget reconciliation process. In this effort, Congress is taking steps to reauthorize the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, significantly curb federal spending, and elevate other priorities the President and Congressional Majority have outlined. ACU has been utilizing a broad-based umbrella approach in the “Don’t Tax My Credit Unions” campaign and other-directed outreach to Capitol Hill to ensure every member of Congress understands what is at stake for credit unions and your 140+ million members.

In parallel, GoWest has been implementing a very targeted advocacy effort, tailor fit to each of the forty-eight (48) members of our GoWest delegation to ensure we can combat any effort to remove the credit union tax exemption, while also showcasing the credit union difference and the impact credit unions are making in the lives of consumers, small businesses, and communities in our region.

During this most recent Congressional recess, GoWest staff met with the office of Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-1) and joined several Washington credit union leaders in hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA-1). These two members of the GoWest delegation will be key players in the next phase of the budget reconciliation process, as they are members of the House Ways and Means Committee and will be joining their forty-one (41) committee colleagues to negotiate the final tax policy language that will be voted on and folded into the final budget reconciliation bill. The GoWest Advocacy Team and credit union leaders have maintained on-going advocacy efforts with key Senate leaders. However, as the initial budget language in development will be starting in the House, those members have been a recent focus, as we have high confidence in our credit union supporters in the Senate.

Next Steps

Additionally, we will be reaching out to credit unions with a request to sign on to State delegation-specific letters. That effort will coincide with targeted op-eds in key markets that warrant additional focus. We will also employ digital ads to recognize Members of Congress who have already stood up to support credit unions in this process. These efforts will be a critical focus for the timely Spring Hike the Hill happening later this month.

GoWest leadership will continue to evaluate each action and make necessary adjustments to actions, messaging and timelines in order to strategically elevate our GoWest activities in order to meet the needs of this advocacy effort.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Federal Advocacy.