More than 5,500 credit union advocates could be seen in every Congressional office building in Washington, D.C. Wednesday as credit unions concluded the annual CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) with meetings with nearly every House and Senate office.

Hill visits are an essential part of CUNA GAC, and as shown by the introduction of several credit union governance modernization bills this week, direct engagement with legislators pays off.

CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan and Board Chair Troy Stang were among the leaders that shared the importance of telling stories during their time onstage at GAC.

Donovan followed up Wednesday with an email to all 535 Congressional offices informing them that credit unions were on their way to the Hill.

Top priorities addressed during the meetings were the need to:

• Pass a strong data security standard that preempts state laws;
• Allow credit unions to be there for veteran small business owners; and
• Modernize the way credit union charters are structured.

Credit union leaders went into meetings with stories about how they were helping advance the Congressional members’ communities by serving their constituents, and how by supporting their priorities the service would get even better.

Stories of credit unions helping members pay for citizenship costs, fertility treatments, their first car, their first house, expansion of their businesses and more were told in every meeting.

Several members of Congress thanked credit unions for serving their communities, particularly in cases where their absence would create a financial desert, cutting the community off from the financial system.

See below for photos from the day’s visits, and here for a look at the day’s activities on social media.