Petros: Grassroots advocacy key to successful tax fight

With more than 381,000 messages sent to Congress in support of the credit union tax status, grassroots advocacy is proving to be a powerful resource in connecting policymakers with the people who elected them. Ann Petros, America’s Credit Unions vice president of policy engagement and credit union operations, detailed the importance of grassroots in an op-ed in CUInsight published today.

“All over the country, people partner with credit unions to achieve their financial dreams. Credit unions step in when banks won’t. Driven by a people-first mission, credit unions provide better rates, lower fees, and needed services that make an impact on hardworking Americans’ lives. And our members recognize the way credit unions treat them compared to for-profit institutions,” she wrote.

“These life-changing opportunities are possible because of credit unions’ tax status. That’s why the message isn’t just about supporting credit unions; it’s about specifically asking policymakers to stand up for credit unions and use their vote to protect credit unions – and the people who depend on them,” she added.

Successful credit union grassroots is about amplifying the voice of credit union members as the ones who will be harmed by a change to the tax status,

“Now is the time to make noise, with messages and outreach to lawmakers from credit union leadership, employees, volunteers – and credit union members themselves,” she wrote. “The more grassroots noise generated in advocating for ourselves, the harder we make it for any member of Congress to cast a vote on any change to the credit union tax status because thousands of constituents have told them how important it is.”

The Don’t Tax My Credit Union Member Activation Program site contains a press kit to assist credit unions in writing their own op-eds, letters to the edits, and engage local media in other ways.