Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
AUGUST 2, 2017 | VOL. 28 | NO. 26 | CUTIMES.COM
At Odds:
Tax Battle
Looms
DAVID BAUMANN
dbaumann@cutimes.com
he mere mention of
comprehensive tax reform on Capitol Hill
has reignited the high-stakes battle between banks and
credit unions over the tax-exempt
status of the credit union tax exemption.
But veterans of the tax and budget wars on Capitol Hill said that
the poisonous atmosphere in our
nation’s capital makes it tough
to tackle the easiest of issues, let
alone something as complicated
as the tax code.
“I think everybody wants a tax
bill,” said James
Dyer, a former legislative staffer in
the Ronald Reagan
and George H.W.
Bush administra-
tions who went
on to serve as staff
director of the House Appropria-
tions Committee. “The tax code is
a mess.”
But in discussing the possi-
bility of a tax bill, Dyer added, “I
thought they were higher at the
beginning of the year than they
are now after watching this White
House and this Congress unfold.”
A former Democratic House
member agreed.
“It’s hard to see how
POLITICS
Y18
usiness services are
often lacking in credit
unions, in part because of the specialized knowledge required to lend
prudently and the sizable base
of loans and deposits needed to
cover those costs.
Like many other areas of cred-
it union operations, the means
to support business lending and
deposits among smaller credit
unions has been supplied by CU-
SOs, and is one of the reasons
Member Business Loans are one
of the fastest growing segments of
credit union portfolios.
While overall credit union lending rose 59% since 2011, MBLs
have risen 90% to $61.1 billion in
March, accounting for 7% of all
loans among federally-insured
credit unions, according to NCUA
data.
The growth of business lend-
ing among credit unions led in
2002 to the founding of CU Busi-
ness Group, LLC in Portland, Ore.
CUBG now has 43 employees,
most of them in Portland, but also
in San Diego, Houston and New
York. CUBG hires underwriters
and credit analysts who are fa-
miliar with a variety of industries.
Other specialists focus on depos-
its and compliance.
“We started small, but the business model was scalable and
could be offered through-
LENDING
CUSOs Expand Business Services
JIM DUPLESSIS
jduplessis@cutimes.com
Y17
FOCUSREPORT:
CEO’S CORNER
Millennials born in the early 1980s are now rising up into executive-level
positions, and a few have become CEOs of their credit unions. In this Focus
Report, find out how three CEOs in their 30s are breathing new life into the
credit union industry. Y6
FLEXIBLE WORKFORCE
Receding Retirement
Lots of older workers are staying in the workforce past what
should have been their retirement day, and their numbers are
expected to grow — confronting
both them and their employers with the dilemma of how to
proceed in, and with, an older
workforce.
The Washington Post recently
reported that the issue of an aging workforce is not just presenting a depressing reality to those
who long to retire, it’s also challenging employers with the need
to cope with older workers who
just won’t — or can’t — go away.
Bloomberg News reports that
the percentage of U.S. workers
lingering past the traditional retirement age hit new highs in the
most recent jobs numbers; in
fact, 19% of those 65 and older
are working at least part time.
But it won’t stop there, with
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting that over-65
workers will likely be the fast-est-growing demographic in the
workplace by 2024.
So where does that leave
bosses? Some, the report said,
are redesigning manufacturing
plants to adapt to the needs of
an aging workforce, while others
are increasing 401(k) matches to
better prepare employees financially so that they actually can
retire.
And then there are financial
wellness programs, now popular among employers as they
try to boost retirement Y16
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Dyer