H. 410 - "Credit Union Updates" Passes N.C. State House 85-25.

 

Looks like we have a little work to do, doesn't it!

Having passed the State House, H. 410 now moves over to the Senate side of the Legislature; and, will go through a similar consideration process there. So get ready for Round 2! 

Now, not trying to be pushy; but hey, hope you're not treating this struggle as if you're snuggled-in watching Season 3 of the Mandalorian!   It sure wouldn't hurt any, if you would put up the popcorn and get off your..."couch"...and help out a bit, ok?  At least look up who your State Senator is (see bottom of 4/12 post on how to easily do that) and write it down for later.

Three pieces of good news: 1) We now have a final bill, instead of a moving target, 2) SECU has come out in full support of the bill (see 4/24 post), no more coy smoke and mirrors, and 3) awareness - and understanding - of the real issues in H. 410 is rising rapidly all across North Carolina. Easy example? This blog has had over a quarter of a million hits in less than 2 months. Hey, so get off your..."couch"...c'mon!

We now have more time to make our case to the Senate (perhaps a mistake to scare Dan Schline and CCUL so much! Word has it he got panicky and pulled out all stops to rush the bill through the House!) So, lets not waste time; you up off your "couch" yet?

One step back to yesterday's post (4/26) about "two pure fictions ", which were used as justification for passage of H. 410 in the House: "new" safe deposit box and federal parity authority.  See yesterday's post for the section of state law - 54.109.(25) - that has authorized "federal parity" since 1975.

But here is your reference on safe deposit box authority from the actual bill summary and analysis provided to legislators (see your H. 410 tracking page at ncleg.gov):

"➢Expand financial services offered, such as safe deposit boxes, ... and electronic transfer of funds."

So, since you're off your couch now:

1) Send Representative Howard a polite message and ask her to call the SECU branch in her hometown Mocksville (336-751-3201 or just search "safe deposit box" on the SECU website if easier) and ask if they offer safe deposit box service (or electronic funds transfer services for that matter!!) And, also ask the Representative, who told her that these would be newly authorized services for state-chartered credit unions?

2) Send Representative Bell a polite message and ask him to call First People's Credit Union in his hometown, Goldsboro (Crystal Grant is the very capable CEO of the $35 million CU! - 919-736-0885 or just check fcpcu.com). Same question... and who told him these would be new services? 

3) Call or send a not-so-polite message to Dan Schline (336-601-1682 or dschline@carolinasleague.org) and ask him why he sat through the House Banking Committee meeting (4/20) and left Representative Howard "swinging in the wind" to make these false claims to her legislative colleagues, without helping with the correct information?

Post a comment if you hear back!

 

...get the feeling we'll need helmets all around before this is over ? - Mando Duck!⛑⛑⛑

H. 410 - Credit Union Updates - The Whole Truth And Nothing But...

  If you tell the N.C. House Banking Committee that they have been under-informed and misled about H. 410 - Credit Union Updates, then you better be able to back it up, don't you think? Believe everybody would answer yes to that question!  So lets work on it a little. 

But while we work forward, do keep two other questions in the back of your mind: 1) What should our State Representatives (and especially the primary sponsors - Julia Howard and John Bell) do about H. 410, if in fact they have been under-informed and misled? and 2) What should be done with those who didn't tell the whole truth? Be thinking about those two questions.

First, lets go back and repeat that our State Representatives are wildly busy folks dealing with an almost unimaginable array of complex fiscal, political, and public policy issues. No individual representative can be an expert in all these difficult, often technical issues. With H. 410, our representatives must rely to a great extent on the expertise and integrity of the leaders and lobbyists advocating for the bill - in this case that would be the Carolinas' Credit Union League (CCUL). 

So, lets start with a real simple fiction that has been put forth by the CCUL about one of the changes and benefits which will accrue to N.C. state chartered credit unions if H. 410 is passed. Credit unions will be able to offer safe deposit boxes! Representative Howard pointed this out specifically in her summary of H. 410 at the House Banking Committee meeting on 4/20/2023. [You can listen to the recording of the meeting at the ncleg.gov website with Representative Howard beginning her review @ 2.00]. The truth is state-chartered credit unions have been offering safe deposit boxes for over a quarter century. Check it out [Summitcu.org in Greensboro]  or simply call any SECU branch - 10,000+ members have boxes at SECU! Who put this fiction in Representative Howard's talking points? Why?

Minor point you say? Perhaps, but it gets worse and worse in H. 410! Representative Howard's colleagues on the Committee are sitting there believing she is telling them the truth. Second point, as you can hear on the audio, Representative Howard proceeds to advise her colleagues that the most important issue in the bill is achieving parity with federally chartered credit unions. ["Parity" simply meaning being able to do the same things]

PARITY FOR STATE CHARTERED CREDIT UNIONS HAS BEEN IN NORTH CAROLINA LAW SINCE 1975! Here it is [look it up if you have doubts!]:

"54-109. (25)   Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, the Administrator of Credit Unions, subject to the advice and consent of the Credit Union Commission, and upon a finding that action is necessary to preserve and protect the welfare of credit unions and to promote the general economy of the State, may adopt rules allowing State-chartered credit unions to engage in any activity in which they could engage if they were federally chartered credit unions. "

Again, who is putting these words - that are indisputably inaccurate - in Representative Howard's report to her colleagues on the banking committee - and to the entire House? And, why?

H. 410 is calendared for its next vote in the House Rules Committee at 8:45 today  (4/27/2023). Let's see if the primary sponsors - Representatives Howard and John Bell - persist in reading fiction as fact to their colleagues in the House! You can stream it live if you like at ncleg.gov.

Go back and reread the two questions in the second paragraph...

 

... it's one thing for the CCUL to make clowns out of you, me, your staff and your members. It's quite something else to try and do so to our elected representatives...and all North Carolinians.