April 14, 2026
Dear Credit Union Leaders,
Spring has arrived! We are past spring break, March Madness is done (Go Blue!) and our state GAC is fast approaching. As we dig in for baseball season, here are the updates you need.
Advocacy
In Lansing, the legislative spring break has ended and the state legislature returns to work on the FY2027 budget in earnest. MCUL’s Advocacy Team remains focused on our budget priorities, including continued funding for the state CDFI fund as well as the Michigan Saves program. The state will hold its next Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) in May, and final numbers for the budget will key off of those results. Both chambers of the legislature have expressed a desire to complete work by the statutory deadline of July 1 this year as their focus will turn political by early summer. Legislation to enable DIFS to authorize private primary share insurance will be introduced this week, with state Rep. Mike Harris as the lead sponsor in the package. Additional operational amendments to the Michigan Credit Union Act (MCUA) will be introduced soon as well. As mentioned last month, our team continues to work with stakeholders and monitor legislation to “clarify” the impact of failure to timely record deeds and affidavits related to certain MSHDA loans and foreclosure sales. We also continue to monitor efforts on robocalls and telemarketers, cryptocurrency kiosks, earned wage access, public investment reforms and potential efforts on maritime liens. There are still no direct signs of state-level interchange legislation, but our team remains watchful.
In Washington, D.C., Congressional Republicans have indicated they are preparing to draft and will attempt to pass budget reconciliation legislation over the coming months. Provided Republicans do not have the necessary 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to overcome a filibuster, they will try to use the reconciliation process as it lowers the vote threshold necessary to pass legislation out of the Senate to 51. There are 53 GOP Senators. They will first attempt to pass budget legislation before June 1 that funds the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies through the remainder of President Trump’s term. If the ICE and CBP funding bill passes, Congress could then potentially seek to pass a second reconciliation bill to restructure funding within certain federal programs; incorporate provisions from the SAVE Act (dealing with ID requirements to vote and other voting reforms); and fund the war in Iran. Early indications are Congress will not try to offset the cost of the first reconciliation bill dealing with ICE and CBP by making cuts to federal programs or through any changes in the federal tax code. If a second bill were to come into play, it is currently unknown how Congress would try to pay for the measure.
Grassroots and Advocacy Funding
Thank you as well to all of our credit unions that have filled out renewed federal permission agreements. For those remaining credit unions that are expired and have not yet renewed, we will be in touch and we appreciate your help with this. Signing the permission agreement does not mean a credit union has agreed to participate in or run any fundraising programs – it is simply a compliance step related to MCUL’s ability to communicate about our programs. If you have any questions, please contact Todd (Todd.Jorns@mcul.org) or Laura (Laura.Osminski@mcul.org). Our team is hard at work developing a new fundraising program for federal advocacy, and will be looking to pilot it this spring. For those that choose to participate, a pair of informational calls will be held this week – please contact Laura for more information.
For those attending State GAC (or that will be in the area), please join us at “PAC the Pub!” The event will once again be held at Lansing Brewing Company on May 11, the evening before GAC, from 5:30-8:00pm. Join us for an evening of networking and mingling, and celebrating credit union advocacy! You can register at PAC the Pub!, and please contact DaeSean (DaeSean.Ashby@mcul.org) with any questions.
Elections
The filing deadline for this year’s elections is rapidly approaching on April 21. Once we reach the deadline, our team will provide updates on state and federal races of interest, and you can check here for updates on candidate endorsements made by the MCUL.
As a reminder, all 110 state House seats, 38 state Senate seats, 13 U.S. House seats and Executive Branch positions, as well as one open U.S. Senate seat will be up for election. In addition to these seats, there are statewide university boards and Supreme Court races, as well as local and lower-level judicial races on the ballot. MCUL does not engage in judicial or university races, or local races. If you have any information or if you or your credit union has a particular relationship with any state or federal candidates, please contact our team and share what you know!
As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions!
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