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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.