Small Businesses Urge Capitol Hill To Support Credit Unions
Posted on Thu, Feb 09, 2012
The issues surrounding lending caps placed on credit unions is heating up, as roughly 75 businessmen and women charged Capitol Hill this week. The group, organized by the Credit Union National Association, pushed members of Congress to adopt a bill that would raise the current lending cap from 12.25 to 27.5 percent.
The CUNA message asserts that raising the lending cap will spark job creation and allow small businesses to fuel economic growth without adding to the deficit, American Banker reports. With credit tight and more entrepreneurs turning to more affordable credit union banking products, the group says the bill, if approved, will allow more small business owners to launch operations or grow their current company.
Big banking opponents of the bill say raising the cap would have little measurable impact and may only benefit some of the nation's largest credit unions. CUNA president and chief executive Bill Cheney dismisses these claims, affirming that the goal of the legislation is to prop up small businesses and, by extension, the economy.
"The bankers have this wrong," Cheney told American Banker. "This isn't about credit union growth. This is about access for small businesses to capital. And they have it even more wrong in this environment. They say there's no demand. There's no demand?"
Although the bill is still being debated on Capitol Hill, analysts say community banks and credit unions have considerable pull with Congress, fueling speculation that changes may be underway.