The whirlwind start to 2025 and what that means for credit unions was the focus of Tuesday’s advocacy update webinar for America’s Credit Unions members. A capacity crowd tuned in online to Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt, Senior Vice President of Advocacy Greg Mesack, and Vice President of Policy Engagement and Credit Union Operations Ann Petros as they addressed developments in legislative, regulatory, and compliance issues and the impact on credit unions.

Hunt provided a brief update on where things stand in Washington, D.C., including executive orders, leadership updates at the NCUA, and the latest on CFPB leadership and actions. 

She also outlined efforts to address what member credit unions need and want to serve their members the best.

“We have a set of priorities for this year that are extremely focused on making sure we’re protecting, empowering, advancing, empowering credit unions, not only protecting the tax status but advancing measures that will help credit unions,” she said, noting the House has already passed bipartisan credit union board modernization legislation.

“With all the noise in Washington, D.C., we know credit unions have to stay focused on members, and you need certain things to do that, and that’s where we come in,” Hunt said. “Focusing on your needs and what will help you is how we’ll stay on track despite all the distractions in D.C.’

The status of tax reform and efforts to protect the credit union tax status was the focus for Mesack,  who noted it “will dominate Capitol Hill throughout first half of the year,” and that credit unions are fully engaged with members of key tax writing committees.

While defending against changes to the credit union tax status, Mesack highlighted credit union efforts to go on the offense and move legislation forward. 

“The Federal Credit Union Act hasn’t been updated in 30 years, and there are some good modernization and updates to the act that we need, and we have a real chance of that this year,”  he said.

On the regulatory and compliance front, Petros shared America’s Credit Unions’ resources for tracking the latest changes out of Washington, including the Compliance Blog (and its entry breaking down the pause in government funding programs) and the Executive Order tracker.

She provided an update on the latest in the Illinois interchange challenge, challenges to the CFPB’s section 1071 rule, and the CFPB’s overdraft rule.

“The effective date [for the CFPB’s overdraft rule] may be extended from October of this year to December of this year,” she said. “But those lawsuits will move forward unless the CFPB decides to start the rulemaking process to undo or repeal those regulations.”

A recording of the webinar will be available for all who registered. America’s Credit Unions will also provide updates as issues progress.