President, Senate Finance Committee leaders to meet on tax legislation today
President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Senate Finance Committee Republicans Thursday on ways to craft legislation to meet his agenda, including tax reform, according to reports. The meeting comes as America’s Credit Unions urges credit unions nationwide to contact policymakers with the Don’t Tax My Credit Union campaign. The grassroots effort is to ensure lawmakers know changing the credit union tax status would be a tax increase for more than 140 million Americans.
Senate Finance and House Ways and Means are the two committees handling initial efforts to address tax reform. The House Ways and Means Committee issued a document last month of possible “pay fors” to counter tax cuts, and listed the “cost” of the credit union tax status (approximately $3 billion over the next 10 years) as an option to potentially offset other cuts.
But the $3 billion, 10-year “cost” is overshadowed by financial benefits generated by credit unions, according to an independent study commissioned by America’s Credit Unions. The study concluded that removing the credit union tax status would cost the federal government $33 billion in lost income tax revenue, reduce the GDP by $266 billion, and result in 822,000 lost jobs in those ten years.
The data also revealed credit unions brought more than $36 billion in benefits to members and non-members last year alone.
America’s Credit Unions, Leagues, and credit unions have directly engaged with Senate leadership over the past few weeks, including meetings with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. Other meetings include numerous administration officials in recent weeks, including the National Economic Council.