CUNA, League-supported Veteran Business Lending Bill Introduced in House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2023
Washington, D.C.

Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. introduced the Veterans Member Business Loan Act Tuesday. The CUNA-League-backed bill would exempt loans made to veteran-owned businesses from the member business lending cap. 

“Credit unions stand willing and able to get needed capital to veteran-owned business, and we thank Reps. Gonzalez and Fitzpatrick for working together and introducing this bill in the House,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “With bipartisan bills addressing this issue now introduced in both chambers, we will continue to engage members of Congress to move this common-sense legislation forward.” 

Credit unions are restricted in member business lending to 12.25% of assets under current law. 

“Rep. Vicente Gonzalez continues to be great champion for our Texas credit unions and their 11 million members statewide,” said Gili Carter, executive director of the Texas Credit Union Association. “We applaud his efforts to support our veteran-owned businesses from the member business lending cap in his recently filed House companion. As introduced, this is good bipartisan bill that Cornerstone League will support, and we will strongly advocate for this much-needed legislation.” 

CUNA’s July 2023 Voter Poll revealed military households that are credit union members view their credit unions much more favorably than nonmembers view their banks and other service providers in every performance metric evaluated, including:  

• Military households that are credit union members are nearly two time more likely than nonmembers to say they have received personalized financial education/counseling. And they have acted on the advice they received.  
• Military households that do not use credit unions are 1.6 times more likely than military household credit union members to say that they have NOT established a financial buffer to meet unexpected expenses.  
• Not surprisingly military credit union member households are 1.5 times more likely than nonmembers to say they are “very positive” their financial institution has improved their financial well-being. 

Gonzalez and Fitzpatrick also introduced legislation Tuesday to exempt loans made to veteran-owned business from the member business lending cap. 

“We applaud Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick for championing two bills that aim to modernize lending and create more flexibility for credit unions to serve their members, including veterans, in attaining their financial goals,” said Patrick Conway, CrossState Credit Union Association president/CEO. 

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About CUNA: 
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by more than 135 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.