CUs return some H.R. 1151 favors

Richard Gose has no illusions about the funds raised for political action committees (PACs). CUNA's relatively new vice president of political action and grass roots says PAC money "doesn't get you anything. It merely gets you in the game as a player."

That said, it's clear credit unions were key players in the November elections. CULAC-the Credit Union Legislative Action Council-doled out a record $940,000. State PACs contributed mightily to campaigns, as did individuals. As a result, 187 of 191 H.R. 1151 co-sponsors who were up for reelection were returned to office. And 16 senators who supported H.R. 1151 were re-elected, with three losing.

Clearly, credit unions repaid their debts to supporters of the field-ofmembership legislation-with interest. The result was gratifying. As John McKechnie, CUNA's vice president of legislative affairs noted, "We helped re-elect an awful lot of credit union friends."

State leagues were successful, too. For example, the California League helped re-elect all 34 of the state's H.R. 1151 sponsors. In New York, 20 of the 21 candidates the league supported are going back to Washington, D.C.

What really counted, Gose says, are the people who showed up at rallies, passed out literature, made calls on behalf of candidates, and did the legwork. In particularly close races, legwork from credit union people helped re-elect Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Russ Feingold, D-Wis., Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Of course, a handful of strong credit union supporters lost: in the Senate, Alfonse D'Amato in New York, Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina, and Carol Moseley-Braun in Illinois; in the House, Jon Fox of Pennsylvania, Mike Pappas of New Jersey, Jay Johnson from Wisconsin, and Jay Kim of California (in a primary election). And Newt Gingrich's, R-Ga., decision to step down as speaker of the House creates a significant concern for credit union lobbyists.

In those cases where credit union-backed candidates lost, credit union lobbyists point out there's plenty of room to forge strong ties with the victors. Credit unions already have strong working relationships with people like Charles Schumer in New York or John Edwards of North Carolina.

Forging those relationships is possible because "credit unions represent the backbone of working families in this country," notes Larry Johnson, president of the North Carolina Credit Union Network. "Whether they're Democrats or Republicans, I think they see the value and need for preserving the nonprofit alternative to the for-profit sector."

Copyright Credit Union National Association, Inc. Dec 1998
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